Joshua Vandyk, an investment advisor, was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison for conspiring to launder monetary instruments, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Vandyk, a U.S. citizen, and Eric St-Cyr and Patrick Poulin, Canadian citizens, were indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern […]

There seems an increased use of undercover agents by the IRS and other tax authorities in offshore jurisdictions. US v. Robert Bandfield, et al. The indictment in September 2014 of a Belize corporate service provider (CSP) and investment management company in the US is evidence of this trend. In the case US v. Robert Bandfield, […]

1.  The traditional attitude to tax avoidance is encapsulated in the judgement of Lord Tomlin in the English case of IRC v Duke of Westminster (1936): “Every man is entitled if he can to arrange his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If he […]

The Swiss Council of States has adopted a bill forwarded on from the Federal Council with modifications, implementing the revised Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations. Lawmakers increased the tax threshold for a case of tax evasion to be deemed to be a serious tax offence, from CHF200,000 (USD229,164) to CHF300,00. Furthermore, they agreed to […]

The prime minister has hailed an agreement by the UK’s Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies to sign up to a tax evasion clampdown. David Cameron said it was a “very positive step forward” ahead of the G8 meeting, which starts on Monday. But sources from the Crown Dependencies told the BBC a proposed register of […]

TI has welcomed the commitment of the UK to encourage governments all over the world to make corporate beneficial ownership public. David Cameron has written to the heads of the EU on how to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, referring to the need for transparency of corporate ownership. He stressed the solution, which […]