CDR: I.R.S. Seeks Credit Card Slips

Declan McCullagh lists at politechbot.com
Fri Oct 20 07:08:48 PDT 2000


http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/20/business/20BANK.html

October 20, 2000 - New York Times (front page)

        Taking Aim at Tax Havens, I.R.S. Seeks Credit Card Slips

          By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON

         The Internal Revenue Service, struggling against Caribbean
havens it suspects of
          draining away at least $70 billion a year in personal income
tax revenue, has set its sights
          on a new target — the credit card slips of  suspected tax
evaders.

          The agency has asked a federal judge in Miami to issue
summonses for two years'
          worth of records of MasterCard and American Express card
transactions in the
          United States that were billed to bank accounts in Antigua and
Barbuda, the
          Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

          Using the Internet and other outlets, banks in those nations
openly solicit
          tax evasion in ways that the I.R.S. says have proved
attractive to
          corporate executives, business owners, doctors and other
wealthy
          people in the United States.

          Americans can legally move their assets offshore but are
required to
          notify the I.R.S. of those transactions and to pay taxes on
their income
          worldwide. Some Caribbean countries offer an alluring tax
haven,
          however, because they impose no income tax and do not
generally
          cooperate with I.R.S. efforts to track down incomes.





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