Two weeks ago, I wrote The Next Wave of IRS Offshore Account Enforcement: Israeli Banks Under Scrutiny. In that article, I discuss the IRS and Department of Justice (DOJ) expanding their global scrutiny of undeclared foreign banking to include accounts at Israeli banks.
This week, DOJ announced indictments against three Israeli-American tax preparers for helping their clients hide monies from the IRS, including moving money to Israeli banks, and using foreign corporations to hide income.
The DOJ press release, “Three Tax Return Preparers Charged with Helping Clients Evade Taxes by Hiding Millions in Secret Accounts at Two Israeli Banks”, can be found here.
Additional reports:
- “Tax Shelters: Why Israel Could Be the Next Switzerland“, CNBC.
- “Israeli Tax Preparers Snared. Indictment Shows the U.S. Is Broadening Pursuit of Secret Offshore Accounts“, Wall Street Journal.
According to the CNBC report, “the indictment revealed the existence of a grand jury that is almost surely going after much bigger fish.” Further, “the new case is just the beginning of a potential series of indictments, which may snare some of the wealthy American clients who have hidden money in Israel, many for generations. That’s likely to be politically controversial . . . .”
Over a year ago, in my article “IRS Targeting Undeclared Accounts in Israel for Tax Fraud“, I discussed the IRS moving beyond accounts in Switzerland and focusing on accounts in Israel. My most recent article, The Next Wave of IRS Offshore Account Enforcement: Israeli Banks Under Scrutiny, discussed the current state of the inquiry into Israeli banks and non-compliant offshore accounts.
In light of the IRS and DOJ enforcement efforts against offshore accounts that are not tax compliant, owners of such accounts should meet with qualified tax attorneys to discuss their situation and their available options. Please contact us for a confidential and privileged discussion about your situation.