New International Tax Enforcement Programs

I have been spending plenty of time in 2017 for what seems like an endless slipstream of travel; mostly to Europe and this Fall, I’ll be investing some time in Asia too. So, although “Basic”, I thought I’d share this as it is a top-of-mind topic for me and something to be mindful of.

A Couple of New IRS Programs Coming Soon

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit is readying two new programs focusing on data investigations and international tax enforcement.

“The data initiative will tie together the information uncovered by the IRS’s field offices around the country with headquarters in Washington, D.C. “We are standing up a nationally coordinated data investigations unit,” said IRS Criminal Investigation chief Don Fort during a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “This is really cutting edge for CI, and part of the future of IRS Criminal Investigation. Many of the cases that we work on have nationwide impact. The cases exist in every judicial district and probably every zip code, and impact every single field office. It’s a way to better manage and coordinate these investigations. This particular unit is going to report directly to our front-line executives here in Washington, D.C. The goal of the unit is to really use all of the data that we have available to us to help identify and develop areas of noncompliance.” 1

With the new program, the IRS will be able to make better use of noncompliance issues that are identified by field offices that will allow detection at a national level along with the ongoing efforts from field offices that will also have a nationwide impact by focusing investigations on “Data”.

International Tax Enforcement

The first projects of focus are international tax enforcement, employment tax, and SEC microcap fraud, according to Fort. “These will be must-work referrals that will come out of this group to the field offices,” he said. “We also envision when this group stands up and is operational, it will have a very heavy data analytics component that will allow us not only to support and send great cases out from this unit but to also look around the corner to see what the next areas of noncompliance are. There will be a lot of interaction with this group with research components of main IRS and other civil components of IRS to help determine future areas of noncompliance and get priority investigations out to the field offices.”

The new international tax enforcement program will leverage the expertise of IRS Criminal Investigation in previous cases involving UBS and other Swiss banks, as well as other cases involving offshore tax evasion.

From the Ground Up
It was from infraction pursuits involving identity theft (phishing, account takeovers, business email compromise), other street-level crime, and cybercriminals targeting tax professionals that have alerted law enforcement and IRS Criminal Investigations to the evolving and sometimes complicated world of international cybercrime.

Yes, It is Important that You Protect Your Data Contact me to find out how.

Daniel Morris
Daniel frequently provides Media Content via Workshops, Podcasts and Printed Articles on topics like Cross-Border Transactions, Wealth Preservation and Planning, Global Banking and many other high-level financial topics that serve and demonstrate the Value of our Global Network that should be of interest to those who need Private High-Wealth Services. If you wish for Daniel to speak to you or your Professional Group, please contact us.

Morris+D’Angelo is the industry leader for many High-Wealth Customers and Organizations.

707 SW Washington St., Suite 1100
Portland, Oregon, 97205