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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Prosperity & Privacy in the Offshore World
Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - Vol. 4 No. 118
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: IRS Fishing Expedition.
* OFFSHORE: Gibraltar Votes NO! Andorra Tax Exile. Labour Praise?
Swiss Investigate Menem. EU Megamerger, Doubts. EU Tax Powers. GOP Win Helps Offshore, Tax Reform. Cook Islands Deficit. Vanuatu Fraud. Micronations? Angry Canadians. US Bermuda Bashing.
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: Canada, UK and US Endanger Civil Rights.
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• COMMENT: IRS Fishing Expedition.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
Last week was indeed a busy week for the US IRS and its anti-tax evasion crusades.
The US Justice Dept. sought court injunctions against promoters of tax evasion schemes in Tampa, FL., Newark, NJ and Nashville, TN and moved closer to obtaining such injunctions in Cincinnati and Harrisburg, PA. In Nevada an 8-year prison sentence was imposed on a former IRS lawyer who evaded $2 million in taxes on profits from a stock swindle. In Denver a US grand jury indicted promoters of a phony offshore tax scheme based in the Turks & Caicos Islands.
While we agree that the IRS should uphold the law when clearly it is being violated, we have serious reservations about the latest aspect of the ongoing IRS attack against offshore credit card holders, as described in the Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer.
There it was revealed that IRS agents are demanding the right to paw through the Internet accounts of millions of Compuserv customers, looking for possible evidence that some may have used offshore bank issued credit cards to make purchases within the US. The IRS has no names. They just want to keep looking until they think they can match a card to a suspicious purchase, eventually finding possible tax evasion.
Talk about unconstitutional fishing expeditions by the tax police! Scott Greenwood, general counsel of the Ohio ACLU says the IRS is 'in the broadest sense, is attempting to turn Internet vendor merchants against their own customers.' And what about privacy?
David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (http://www.epic.org) in Washington, said the IRS move 'really turns the presumption of innocence on its head. Purely legal activity is suddenly characterized as suspicious activity.' So far the federal courts have gone along with this IRS storm trooper activity, but let's hope some federal judge can read the IV Amendment and put a stop to this outrage.
That's the way that it looks from here.
BOB BAUMAN, Editor
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* COMMENT LINKS:
* Compuserve Online targeted by IRS. Cleveland Plain Dealer. LINK:
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/
story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1036924346167550.xml
* A Busy Week for the U.S. in Its Pursuit of Tax Rebels. NY Times.
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/09/business/09TAX.html
* U.S. government sues Florida men for tax evasion programs.
LINKS: http://www.news-journalonline.com/2002/Nov/9/STAT4.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2002/November/02_tax_652.htm
* Ex-IRS Lawyer in Nevada Sentenced to Prison. LINK:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns
-ap-tax-lawyer-fraud1109nov08,0,646302.story?coll
=sns-ap-nation-headlines
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* OFFSHORE *
GIBRALTAR VOTES A RESOUNDING 99% 'NO'
Voters in one of Europe's leading tax and asset havens rejected the idea of Britain sharing sovereignty over the UK colony with Spain. Madrid and London say they will ignore the vote. LINKS:
http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=9942
http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=9951
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2420945.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2155355,00.html
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT
/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1035873112777
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WEALTHY BRIT SAVES TAXES IN ANDORRA EXILE
Famous race driver escapes UK taxes in Andorra. LINK:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian_jobs_and_money/story/0,3605,
836189,00.html
* New Labour taxes on British business £47bn (US$74.8 bn). LINK:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1035873158164
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WATCH OUT! LABOUR PRAISES U.K TAX HAVENS' COOPERATION
LONDON: When UK Chancellor Gordon Brown praises the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands for limiting strict financial privacy, something is wrong. LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=9948
* Aside from financial matters, Isle of Man is a nice place to visit.
LINK: http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/4455368.htm
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SWISS COURT HELPS CARLOS MENEM INVESTIGATION
GENEVA: Did Argentine ex-president take a bribe? Swiss bank secrecy may be lifted, funds frozen during investigation with Swiss help.
LINK: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20021108_215.html
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EUROPEAN UNION MEGA-MERGER PENDING
25 nations, 450 million citizens; EU expansion challenges US. LINK:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/02_46/B38080246europe.htm
* Eastern Europeans have doubts about joining the EU. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25582-2002Nov7.html
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E.U. CONSTITUTION DRAFT SEEKS CONTINENTAL TAX POWERS
Individual EU nations would lose tax and budget vetoes. LINKS:
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1035873159890
http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=9956
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REPUBLICAN ELECTION WIN HELPS OFFSHORE POLICIES
Report on Dan Mitchell's US election analysis memo.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=9941
* Offshore corporation bashing replaced by business tax reform? LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25519-2002Nov7.html
* US Elections; the impact on international tax issues.
LINK: http://www.vortexcentrum.com/members/wmlro/wmlro1101.htm
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COOK ISLANDS DEFICITS AGAIN AN ISSUE
RAROTONGA: Deficit spending got this Pacific tax haven into trouble before and it may do so again as government payrolls rise.
LINK: http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=9947
* PORT VILA, VANUATU; Ex-PM kicked out of island parliament after fraud conviction; another reason to avoid this wannabe tax haven.
LINK: http://www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2002/11/08/1036721469.htm
* Micro "nations" live on the Internet, nowhere else.
LINK: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/1125/066tab.html
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NO WONDER CANADIANS ARE ANGRY AT THE U.S.
TORONTO: New USborder crossing policies subject naturalized Canadians to humiliation, search, delays. LINK:
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/10/Worldandnation/Border_scrutiny_snare.shtml
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RESIDENTS UNHAPPY WITH U.S BERMUDA BASHING
HAMILTON: American political campaigns miscast island tax haven. LINK:
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021108&Category=
MIDOCEAN&ArtNo=111080068&Ref=AR
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS *
CANADA LAW TRASHES CIVIL RIGHTS
OTTAWA: Canadian anti-terror legislation under attack.
LINK: http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=39371
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IS U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY AN EMPTY PLAN?
Republicans back big government but many doubt it will work.
LINK: http://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb-070es.html
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BRITISH LABOUR SEEKS TO ABOLISH CIVIL RIGHTS
LONDON: Civil rights backlash developing over radical proposals.
LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2439377.stm
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