2. India: Black money disclosures may prove costly for banks Business Standard
3. ‘Differences with India on making public Swiss bank account information’ The Economic Times
4. Swiss banks trying to distance themselves from Indian clients Economic Times
5. Act quickly on black money stash Deccan Chronicle
6. 73 Of 100 Swiss Banks In Bed With The IRS Are Eyeing The Sofa Forbes
My comment to 6.
“A key group is category two banks. They have reason to believe they MAY have committed tax offenses, ”. The word “ MAY” means that they are not certain. Given that most offenses require actual knowledge of wrong doing, it seems to me that most of these banks cannot be proven to have committed tax offenses.
Furthermore, most of these so called “U.S. tax evaders” are very likely citizens of Switzerland.
So, the Swiss are going to turn their own citizens over to the U.S. Department of justice for having committed the crime of having a bank account in Switzerland? Although I can see that this is a very difficult decision, these Category 2 banks are NOT doing themselves any favor by agreeing to this deal.
Unfortunately, the mindset of the U.S. Government is that the whole wide world is involved in a criminal conspiracy to deprive the U.S Treasury of revenue that really belongs to the U.S. (notwithstanding that it is earned in other countries). The U.S. government clearly believes (this is the philosophical basis for FATCA) that all of the world is nothing more than a “tax haven” which exists only to deprive the U.S. Treasury of revenue that legally and morally belongs to the U.S.
I sympathize with the banks. I emphasize with the people involved. What these banks need to understand is that entering into the “OVDP for banks program” will NOT solve their problems.
Furthermore, those citizens of Switzerland (who may be technical U.S. citizens by birth) should be reminded that OVDP was intended to be for willful tax evaders.
The rest of the world really should be supporting Switzerland. Where will the U.S. travel to next? Why not Canada? Just imagine all those people with a U.S. birthplace, who live in Canada and may be using bank accounts in Canada. Think of the penalty base!
“A key group is category two banks. They have reason to believe they MAY have committed tax offenses, ”. The word “ MAY” means that they are not certain. Given that most offenses require actual knowledge of wrong doing, it seems to me that most of these banks cannot be proven to have committed tax offenses.
Furthermore, most of these so called “U.S. tax evaders” are very likely citizens of Switzerland.
So, the Swiss are going to turn their own citizens over to the U.S. Department of justice for having committed the crime of having a bank account in Switzerland? Although I can see that this is a very difficult decision, these Category 2 banks are NOT doing themselves any favor by agreeing to this deal.
Unfortunately, the mindset of the U.S. Government is that the whole wide world is involved in a criminal conspiracy to deprive the U.S Treasury of revenue that really belongs to the U.S. (notwithstanding that it is earned in other countries). The U.S. government clearly believes (this is the philosophical basis for FATCA) that all of the world is nothing more than a “tax haven” which exists only to deprive the U.S. Treasury of revenue that legally and morally belongs to the U.S.
I sympathize with the banks. I emphasize with the people involved. What these banks need to understand is that entering into the “OVDP for banks program” will NOT solve their problems.
Furthermore, those citizens of Switzerland (who may be technical U.S. citizens by birth) should be reminded that OVDP was intended to be for willful tax evaders.
The rest of the world really should be supporting Switzerland. Where will the U.S. travel to next? Why not Canada? Just imagine all those people with a U.S. birthplace, who live in Canada and may be using bank accounts in Canada. Think of the penalty base!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.