The International Revenue Service (IRS) this week made life a little more simple for non-US taxpayers, by announcing that Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) will expire if they are not be used on an income tax return for five consecutive years. The new policy applies to any ITIN and will come into action in 2016. […]

A highly sophisticated cyber ‘super virus’ is using emails purporting to be from HMRC and other tax and financial institutions to infect computers and hack into bank accounts, before systematically draining funds. Fake invoices or order confirmations from retailers – usually claiming a large sum has been charged to a credit card – have also been […]

Credit Suisse plead guilty in the Department of Justice indictment of the bank for aiding and abetting in tax evasion. In so doing it has acknowledged that it assisted its clients in using sham entities, to secretly hide funds in offshore accounts. As part of the plea Credit Suisse has agreed to pay fines and […]

US persons with Swiss bank accounts will soon be receiving a letter requesting their permission to send their account information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). On Tuesday, 22nd April, Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration (FTA) announced this move and provided the content of the letter, […]

Following the growth in the number of environments and situations where virtual currency, such as Bitcoin, operates as ‘real’ currency, the IRS has announced that virtual currency will be treated as property for tax purposes, rather than currency. The IRS has provided guidance on the tax implications of transactions using virtual currency. Currently, in some […]

Andrew Aldridge, Tax Director at US Tax & Financial Services, recently provided expert comment for an article in The Times, which highlighted how the IRS is targeting US persons in the UK under new rules to combat tax evasion. The article in The Times (Saturday 15th March 2014) highlighted how The IRS is on the trail of […]

A new advertising campaign has been launched by UK chancellor George Osborne following February’s G20 summit in Australia. There has been a shared commitment by the G20 to tackle global tax avoidance and evasion. The advertising campaign is looking to target people who have stored money in offshore bank accounts, and highlights how tax evaders […]