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Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne hailed the international expansion of a UK-led deal to automatically share information on the ultimate owners of companies as over 20 jurisdictions, including British crown dependencies, overseas territories and EU member states sign up.

Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Montserrat are amongst those joining the pilot initiated by the UK and launched with Germany, France, Italy and Spain at the G20 last week. As such their tax and law enforcement agencies will now exchange data on company beneficial ownership registers and new registers of trusts enabling more effective investigation of financial wrongdoing and tax-dodging.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said: Only a week after Britain launched this initiative with some of our closest European partners, it’s gaining the international support that will be vital to make it truly effective.

I welcome the early commitment made by Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Montserrat and Anguilla to participate and call on all of the remaining overseas territories and crown dependencies to do likewise.

It should be clear to all countries and tax jurisdictions that the world is moving firmly in the direction of greater tax transparency and the UK will continue to push for an internationally agreed blacklist for those that refuse to do the right thing.

On April 4, 2016 we posted Huge Leak From the Panamanian Law Firm Mossack Fonseca! where we discussed that the offshore planning world was set on fire with the news that 11 million documents were leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.  They allegedly show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax.

This post also speculated that U.S. persons will probably show up, given that Mossack Fonseca apparently maintained a branch in Las Vegas, Nevada, under the name of M.F. Company Services and Mossack Fonseca Company Services is currently attempting to fight a subpoena brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada seeking information on at least 123 companies that it created.

Then on April 18, 2016 we posted Have An Un-Reported Account Associated With Mossack Fonseca? Like Your Freedom? Call Us!  where we discussed that U.S. federal agents and prosecutors told NBC News earlier that they had begun to mobilize in an effort to obtain and use the Panama Papers to bolster Existing Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions and to Launch New Ones.

 Now The Guardian reports that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has “led several crusades against criminal wrongdoing in the financial sector, is already investigating several of the more than 200 US citizens named in the papers.”

The ICIJ received an email, published by the Guardian, from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York indicating that his office had “opened a criminal investigation regarding matters to which the Panama Papers are relevant.” Further, his office would greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak as soon as possible with any ICIJ employee or representative involved in the Panama Papers Project in order to discuss this matter further.”

The failure to declare certain interests in foreign financial accounts and assets can potentially bring about significant civil penalties and in egregious situations, the possibility of criminal problems.

In today's environment, where there is rampant computer hacking and where governments are paying staggering whistleblowing rewards for information about ANYONE who currently has unreported income or money in an offshore account, needs to be aware that these types of leaks of perceived confidential information from an internal data base of a law firm, trust company, financial institution or otherwise can occur at anytime, anywhere in the world!

The Supreme Court has declined to review a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that denied, as time-barred, a corporation's refund claim for disputed foreign tax credits (FTCs).

The Federal Circuit concluded that the 10-year statute of limitation period in Code Sec. 6511(d)(3)(A) for filing such claims began with date for filing the return for the year in which the foreign taxes originated, and not for the year in which the amount of the contested foreign taxes was finally settled. Albemarle Corp v. U.S., (CA Fed Cir 8/13/2015) 116 AFTR 2d 2015-5609, rehearing denied (CA Fed Cir 10/22/2015) 116 AFTR 2d 2015-6563, cert denied 4/18/2016.

On May 15, 2009, seven years after the Belgian withholding taxes were paid by Albemarle S.A., plaintiff filed with the United States IRS "an administrative refund claim in the form of an amended consolidated income tax return (Form 1120-X) for the 2002 tax year." Although the settlement with the Belgian tax authorities was finalized, and the taxes were paid, in 2002, plaintiff did not file protective refund claims for the tax years at issue.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims had previously ruled that Louisiana-based chemical manufacturer Albemarle couldn't claim $825,846 in foreign tax credits for taxes a foreign subsidiary paid to Belgium because the 10-year statute of limitations under tax code Section 6511(d)(3)(A) related back to the tax years of the income at issue and not the year the company settled the liability with Belgian tax authorities.

Judge Marian Blank Horn originally ruled that Albemarle's claims accrued in 1997 and 1998, when its subsidiary received debenture payments that it believed weren't subject to Belgian tax, instead of 2002, when the company reached an agreement with the Belgian tax authorities as to the existence and amount of the tax liability.

 

On April 4, 2016 we posted Huge Leak From the Panamanian Law Firm Mossack Fonseca! where we discussed that the offshore planning world was set on fire with the news that 11 million documents were leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.  They allegedly show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax. The company says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing.

In our blog post. we speculated that while the neither the BBC article, nor a more detailed series of articles from the International Consortium of International Journalists, reference any U.S. client; U.S. persons will probably show up, given that Mossack Fonseca apparently maintained a branch in Las Vegas, Nevada, under the name of M.F. Company Services and Mossack Fonseca Company Services is currently attempting to fight a subpoena brought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada seeking information on at least 123 companies that it created.

IRS officials said they could not discuss who participated and what, specifically, was discussed. But in its statement to NBC news, the IRS described the meeting as "productive and timely" and said "governments around the world are working together cooperatively" to respond to the information released in the Panama Papers, with JITSIC playing a coordinating role. 

U.S. federal agents and prosecutors told NBC News earlier that they had begun to mobilize in an effort to obtain and use the Panama Papers to bolster Existing Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions and to Launch New Ones.

According to media reports, the documents contain information on potentially thousands of U.S. citizens and firms that have at least an indirect connection to offshore accounts affiliated with Mossack Fonseca.