by Brian Mahany (reprinted with permission from MahanyLaw.com)
Government tax authorities asking banks and credit card companies for information on foreign account holders is hardly news these days. The I.R.S. does it, so do Germany, Britain and many other countries. Officials want to know when their citizens transfer wealth overseas or open foreign accounts. Generally the …
Tax Authorities Resort to Illegal Bribes to Get Information
by Brian Mahany
Last summer I discussed the how the German government bribed a Liechtenstein bank employee to obtain confidential tax information - the names and addresses of German account holders with accounts at LGT Bank. What many did not know, however, was that Germany then apparently shared …
By Brian Mahany
Every year at election time someone jokes about “voting early and often.” Those jokes often refer to Chicago politicians and stories of dead people voting two or three times. For this story we head west to California where two men have been indicted for filing 250 refund returns, all fraudulent and all for …
by Brian Mahany
Tax Liens? You can still salvage your credit standing but you need to know how.
In today’s economy, keeping a good credit score is more important than ever. A bad credit score can mean no car loan or mortgage or paying much higher rates. Tax liens can ruin your score. Even if you eventually …
by Brian Mahany
The IRS has announced its Criminal Investigation Annual Business Plan for FY2010. This year’s plan is part of the IRS’ larger 5 year strategic plan for 2009 - 2013. Those of us who are baby boomers remember the then Soviet Union’s “5 year plans.” Like the IRS strategic plan, those plans were big …
by Brian Mahany
Just about everyone has an opinion on President Obama’s health care legislation. Some say it will bankrupt our nation. Others say the health care plan is badly needed. Whatever your opinion on the substance of the bill, I say that 99.9999% of Americans have not even read the bill. Unfortunately, the only …