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The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has become aware of a widespread problem affecting numerous taxpayers across the country (including taxpayers in: California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington) as well as taxpayers in Canada who are receiving incorrect letters from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the completion and filing of Form 3520, Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts, for 2010 and earlier years.

The AICPA urged the IRS to investigate to determine the source of the processing problem so it could stop sending out the erroneous letters and to consider issuing an announcement that such erroneous letters do not require a response.

“The letters are inconveniencing taxpayers and causing them to incur unnecessary professional fees when practitioners must respond to the IRS explaining why the IRS letters are incorrect and request an abatement of the penalties,” the AICPA said in its Aug. 28, 2012 letter to the IRS.The letters with erroneous conclusions are being received by taxpayers who filed Form 3520, Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts, for 2010 and earlier years.

The AICPA letter described six specific errors the IRS letters claim taxpayers have made, including filing Form 3520 late when it was filed on time.

Swiss prosecutors Thursday said they opened an investigation into the theft of data from Swiss bank Julius Baer that German authorities allegedly bought amid a drive to crack down on suspected tax evaders. The office of Switzerland's attorney general Thursday said a suspect has been arrested in connection with the alleged data theft, but declined to provide additional information.

Swiss media are reporting that the suspect is a German national who was working for an information technology firm hired by Julius Baer, and that the stolen data contained information on undeclared bank accounts, which was then sold to tax authorities in the German federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia.

Tensions between Switzerland and Germany are already rising ahead of a key vote in German parliament to ratify a treaty between the two countries aimed at drawing a line under past allegations that Swiss banks assisted tax evasion and at mapping out a future path.

Under the proposed agreement, Germans with hidden accounts in Switzerland would pay a withholding tax to their home country each year and be charged a punitive retroactive tax on undeclared capital to regularize the past. In exchange, the Swiss won't turn their names over to Berlin.

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger expressed support for making the purchase of compact discs from traders with data of possible German tax evaders illegal, the Justice Ministry said Sept. 5.

If you have Unreported Income From Swiss Banks, contact the Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Consultation at www.TaxAid.usor www.TaxLaw.msor Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

Call US before Uncle Sam finds you!

Sources"

Wall Street Journal

BNA

The Swiss banking sector is keeping its head above water in increasingly choppy seas, but must pass a series of crucial tests to thrive in future, according to the industry’s lobby group.

The Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) identified rampant regulation, the global tax evasion row and barriers to key markets as the main challenges ahead.

If you have Unreported Income From Swiss Banks, contact the Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Consultation at www.TaxAid.usor www.TaxLaw.msor Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

Call US before Uncle Sam finds you!

Swissinfo

As Cayman faces a visit from the OECD in connection with its international obligations regarding tax transparency and anti-money laundering, Premier McKeeva Bush has raised his concerns about HSBC Mexico, which has a class B banking licence in Cayman, and the recent accusations of poor regulation on thousands of its Cayman Islands accounts found to have links to organized crime.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, Bush said his government was “extremely concerned” about the potential impact on Cayman. “The actions or lack thereof by the bank officials and alleged misuse of the Cayman entity can undermine the jurisdiction’s hard work and accomplishments in the AML regime,” Bush said.

CNS Business