I hear from people every week who think their tax problem is the end of the world. It usually isn't. I'm Darrin Mish. I've resolved over $100 million in tax debt for clients. Here's what you should know.<\/p>\n
Even as the IRS wages war against offshore banks that solicit deposits from US citizens in attempts to evade paying taxes on them, US banks are playing the same game with foreign depositors. \u00a0\u2018Move your cash to our country. \u00a0We will keep it safe and secret,\u2019 seems to be their pitch. \u00a0Incidentally, that was the tune sung by Swiss banking giant UBS Bank that was recently forced to pay millions of dollars in fines and admit to covertly courting US taxpayers to deposit money with them in their bank\u2019s accounts protected by Swiss banking laws.
\nBut US banks play the same game with wealthy depositors from Third World countries, according to tax evasion experts, making the US the world\u2019s biggest tax haven.<\/a> \u00a0Jack Blum, a former US Senate investigator and an authority on offshore tax shelters, says US bankers \u201csell tax evasion to citizens of Central America, the Caribbean, all over Latin America.\u201d \u00a0And the government has not put a stop to this simply because it does not want to stem the flow of foreign money into the country.
\nBut US banks deny soliciting deposits from foreigners to enable them to evade taxes in their home country. \u00a0According to Alex Sanchez, President of the Florida Bankers Association, foreigners choose to park their money in the US not to evade taxes but to keep it out of the reach of tyrants and kidnappers.
\nThere is an estimated $3.6 trillion in foreign funds deposited in US banks. \u00a0The government does not keep records of depositors who bring in these funds so it cannot give any information to poorer countries like Mexico whose citizens have siphoned money into the US. \u00a0However, ther is one exception. \u00a0It\u2019s money deposited by Canadians. \u00a0The Canadian and US governments have a banking information exchange pact with each other. \u00a0Mexico for one, has tried to formulate a similar pact with the US government but so far has been unsuccessful.
\nThere are plans to revive a 2001 plan that obligates US banks to report interest paid to foreign nationals. \u00a0The IRS said this proposal reflects a \u201cgrowing global consensus\u201d about the need for nations to cooperate on tax enforcement.
\nBut many are opposed to this proposal, saying it would do the economy irreparable damage. \u00a0For instance, all 25 members of Florida\u2019s US House delegation from both sides of the political divide wrote President Barack Obama to say that the proposal would scare away foreign capital.<\/p>\n