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Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Tax Heaven and Hell

Heavy are our footsteps this morning ... And my heart goes to Gabbie, Ruby, Lach, Chris, MT, Kim, Kate and others


Melbourne sweating through one of its hottest weeks in 155 years as nation swelters







The ATO's estimate of a $2.5 billion "tax gap" between what big corporates should be paying compared to what they are paying prompts Mr Killaly's interest, who argues it could be a multiple of that figure.

Mr Killaly has a nice anecdote about his view of the Australian Tax Office's role: "You've got to be like a blue heeler constantly going after a creature that's got a mind of its own,and it's big and strong."
Another Bullshit Tax Shelter Bites the Dust (11/14/17)

In Smith v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-218, here, the taxpayers implemented and claimed the tax benefits of a tax shelter concocted by a Houston lawyer to shelter their income upon retirement.  Professor Bryan Camp has a nice discussion of the gambit and the result in Lesson From The Tax Court: The Power Of Fact-Finding (TaxProf Blog 11/13/17), here, who described it as a "Rube Goldberg scheme," which, he confessed, "I don’t understand how this works even as I am writing it!"

While I, like Professor Bryan Camp, don't profess to understand all the machinations, I think the core idea was for the taxpayers to create a limited partnership in which they directly or indirectly owned all the partnership interests - 98% LP interests and 2% GP interests.  They contributed significant cash and marketable securities to the partnership through an interim entity, an S Corporation.  The limited partnership was allegedly created for estate planning and preservation reasons.  Without the intervention of the S Corporation, that would not be particularly noteworthy.  The S Corporation first received the assets and then contributed them to the limited partnership.  (I haven't focused on the precise order of those steps, but it is not important.)  The S corporation then, in the same year, liquidated. 

The machinations resulted in the following:
  At the beginning of the process, the taxpayers had the cash and assets;
At the end of the process, the taxpayers had the LP interests and, indirectly, the GP interests; and
Between the beginning and the end the Subchapter S corporation was created and liquidated. 
  The taxpayers then claimed ordinary loss deductions based on the purported tax results of the S corporation.  I confess that I did not spend the time to fully understand exactly how those results worked.  Normally, the liquidation of an S corporation generates a capital loss to the extent that the value of the assets distributed is less than the shareholders' basis in the stock.  I think, however, that the lawyer pulled of some other sleight of hand to create the appearance of an ordinary loss in the S Corporation that flowed through to the shareholders via the K-1.  The ordinary loss was needed to shelter the ordinary income that caused the taxpayers to adopt the "Rube Goldberg scheme" in the first instance.  I may not have that right, because, in my mind, it is not critical to the result in the case...








  • The Paradise Papers show accountancy firms are engaged in wilful and organised hypocrisy  (20 Nov 2017)
  • How UK tax cuts for the rich have cost the country dear   (20 Nov 2017)
  • If you tax the rich, they won't leave: US data contradicts millionaires' threats
     
      (20 Nov 2017)
  • Royalties from thousands of song classics tucked away tax-free -  Music catalogue based in Jersey (managed by another company based in Ireland) collected millions from songs by Duke Ellington, Sheryl Crow, The Trammps   (20 Nov 2017)
  • UK Tax cut for rich means £8.6 billions lost to Exchequer (20 Nov 2017)
  • Drug traffickers taught the rich how to hide money in tax havens  (20 Nov 2017)
  • The legal loophole that saves foreign companies paying BILLIONS in UK tax
     
      (20 Nov 2017) 
  • Exposed: Ineos links to Paradise Papers firm  (20 Nov 2017)n
  • Monaco builds into the Med to house new throng of super-rich  (20 Nov 2017)
  • Governments for Sale: UK trade minister lobbied Brazil on behalf of oil giants (BP and Shell) taxation and environmental concerns  (20 Nov 2017) 
  • No Chevron deference: Australian profits must see Australian tax  (20 Nov 2017)
  •  Dutch PM defends tax cut seen benefiting Shell, Unilever, UK investors  (20 Nov 2017)
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  • Ivanka's signature real estate deals were disasters linked to drug cartels and money laundering  (20 Nov 2017) 
  • Swiss regulator finds JPMorgan broke money-laundering rules  (20 Nov 2017)
  • Insurers fear UK tax rise in 'raid on the responsible'  (20 Nov 2017)
  • Don’t be a stranger: offshore finance and the UK’s balance of payments  (20 Nov 2017)
  • Glencore's Copper Head Steps Down From Congo Unit Amid Probe  (20 Nov 2017)
  • Italy plans tax crackdown on US internet groups  (20 Nov 2017)
  • “It's a Ponzi Scheme”: Wall Street Fears Trump's Deranged Tax Plan Means Economic Euthanasia
     
      (20 Nov 2017)
  • Founder of Brazilian art park convicted of money laundering  (20 Nov 2017)
  • US Senate drops stock options tax change  (20 Nov 2017)
  • Amazon, Costco, Kroger, Macy's And Walmart Could Be Helped By A 20% US Tax Rate
     
      (20 Nov 2017)
  • A US millionaire explains why he wants to pay more taxes  (20 Nov 20170
  • Narco-a-lago: Money Laundering at the Trump Ocean Club Panama (17 Nov 2017)
  • Big Four accounting firms are key drivers of tax haven use  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Big fortunes and the Big4 accounting firms  (17 Nov 2017)  
  • Taxation and the Allocation of Talent - Best paid professions like finance tend to destroy value for economy. Worst paid professions like teaching tend to add value (17 Nov 2017) 
  • Call to end 'deadweightUK research and development tax breaks  (17 Nov 2017)
  • OECD awards Top tax transparency rating for Crown dependencies  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Company registered at 10 Downing Street in name of Italian mafia boss
     
       (17 Nov 2017)
  • The super-rich are trying to exploit human rights law to dodge tax  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Theresa May's husband has 'serious questions to answer' on tax avoidance  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Thousands more names and companies revealed from Paradise Papers  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: elephant in the room remains still, unnoticed  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Leaked Records Reveal Offshore’s Role In Forest Destruction: How lawyers and big banks help one of Asia’s largest paper companies expand despite poor environmental record and social conflicts (17 Nov 2017)
  • Fighting the tax dodgers will help women everywhere. Here's how  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Light shone on offshore trusts should be a red flag to lawyers and accountants  (17 Nov 2017)
  • US Companies Dodge $70 Billion a Year in Offshore Tax Havens (17 Nov 2017)
  • Taxpayers pay legal bill to protect Trump business profits  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Offshore tax havens fuel South Florida real estate boom  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Number of untaxed vehicles in UK trebles after tax disc abolition  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Seattle Defends Its New High-Earner Income Tax In Court  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Returning to surplus relies on shifting tax burden to individuals  (17 Nov 2017)
  • HMRC wins landmark De Silva film scheme case in Supreme Court  (17 Nov 2017)
  • Read the judgement in De Silva & Anor, R (on the application of)v Revenue and Customs [2017] UKSC 74 (15 November 2017) (17 Nov 2017) 
  • Ditch tax cuts to fund universal credit, says Iain Duncan Smith's thinktank  (17 Nov 2017)
  • HSBC to pay €300m to settle tax investigation  (15 Nov 2017)
  • #ParadisePapers and the Big Four: in the words of a former insider  (15 Nov 2017)
  • Nike Knocked by Unions for Company's 'Tax Avoidance' Strategies  (15 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers line up Big Four accountancies for criticism  (15 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Are the Crown Dependencies undemocratic? (15 Nov 2017)
  • The heat is on: inaction on tax havens will make May appear complicit  (15 Nov 2017)
  • Why do people care more about benefit 'scroungers' than billions lost to the rich?  (15 Nov 2017)
  • Private Equity Chiefs Are Better Tax Targets Than Start-Up Workers  (15 Nov 2017)
  • The Final Days of a Tax Haven  (15 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers expose Pacific tax havens  (15 Nov 2017)
  • There are clear ways to rebuild our broken economy but the government is blinded by Tory dogma  (14 Nov 2017)
  • The Richest 1% Now Own More Than 50% of the World's Wealth  (14 Nov 2017)
  • Tackle tax avoidance in budget, Labour urges Philip Hammond  (14 Nov 2017)
  • EU tries to fast-track rules for tax advisers after Paradise Papers  (14 Nov 2017)
  • Multinationals turn from 'Double Irish' to 'Single Malt' to avoid tax in Ireland
     
       (14 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Rich tax avoiders are 'vampires', EU finance chief Pierre Moscovici says  (14 Nov 2017)
  • Moscovici calls for the adoption of an EU blacklist of tax havens  (14 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers is an 'opportunity' for EU to tackle multinational tax evasion, says Greek MEP  (14 Nov 2017)
  • Tax havens are not fair and only benefit global elites  (14 Nov 2017)
  • After successive offshore scandals, are there signs of change in Isle of Man?
     
      (14 Nov 2017)
  • How to stop the super-rich looting our wealth: make it illegal  (14 Nov 2017)
  • Grenfell: Kensington borough has residents with TB and rickets, warns local MP
     
       (14 Nov 2017)
  • Five Reasons Not to Tax University Endowments  (14 Nov 2017)
  • India Trial in ₹22100 crore Vodafone tax dispute in February  (14 Nov 2017)
  • The largest basic income experiment in history just launched in Kenya  (14  Nov 2017)
  • How paying your income tax in France is going to change dramatically  (14 Nov 2017)
  • Tax avoidance is in the establishment's DNA - Margaret Hodge MP  (13 Nov 2017)
  • More than 400 millionaires tell US Congress: Don't cut our taxes  (13 Nov 2017)
  • How the super-wealthy avoid taxes by parking money offshore legally  (13 Nov 2017)
  • Sweden's government wants new rule to fight tax evasion  (13 Nov 2017)
  • Leicester City owners in $420m tax evasion scandal  (13 Nov 2017)
  • How used $5 note brought down global money laundering ring  (13 Nov 2017)
  • Cadbury pays zero corporation tax for the SIXTH year in a row despite making £100 million profits  (11 Nov 2017)
  • German prosecutors raid Commerzbank in tax evasion probe  (11 Nov 2017)
  • John McDonnell calls on Queen to release financial records amid Paradise Papers leak
     
      (11 Nov 2017)
  • The Brexiters who put their money offshore  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Paperswho's who in the leak of offshore secrets  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Secrets of the Global Elite  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Ticket tout Julien Lavallee set up business in tax haven Isle of Man  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers reveal how tax havens damage Africa  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Tax authorities investigate Greek names on 'Paradise Papers' list  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Cayman Finance defends offshore operation after Paradise Papers leak  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Britain criticised by MEPs for failing to take action on tax havens  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers reveal the rise of a new class: The global oligarchy  (11 Nov 2017)
  • British establishment entangled in Paradise Papers  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Land value tax would create a virtuous circle  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Rolls-Royce settles £671m bribery probes in UK, US and Brazil  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Former Rolls-Royce staff bribery claims revealed  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Jersey Ministers' failure to speak out 'weird'  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Two Executives from Oil Services Company Plead Guilty to Role in Foreign Bribery Scheme  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Gold is the new cocaine for money launderers  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Five Individuals Charged in Foreign Bribery Scheme Involving Rolls-Royce Plc and Its U.S. Subsidiary  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Fraudsters jailed for £107m 'cynical' green tax scam  (11 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers Exposes Donald Trump-Russia links and Piggy Banks of the Wealthiest 1 Percent  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett are wealthier than poorest half of the  US   (10 Nov 2017)
  • Revealed: scheme that let Gary Lineker avoid tax on Barbados home  (10 Nov 2017)
  • 'It's a game I play to win': how the top 1% really feel about paying tax  (10 Nov 2017)
  • HM Land Registry makes commercial ownership data free  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: UK millionaires 'using offshore tax avoidance schemes'
     
    (10 Nov 2017)
  • Margrethe Vestager: taking on Google, Apple and sweetheart taxes deals
     
    (10 Nov 2017)  
  • The desperate inequality behind global tax dodging- tax havens deprive EU of €60bn of corporation tax revenues per a year   (10 Nov 2017)
  • Controlled Foreign companies (CFC) - Paradise Papers: PGL holiday firm cut tax bill after rule change  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Britain tries to water down EU anti-tax haven measures days after Paradise Papers revelations  (10 Nov 2017)
  • There is a way to outlaw tax havens – and I'll personally tell world leaders how to do it
     
      (10 Nov 2017)
  • Leaked advice shows how private equity firm was able (with advice from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte) to buy and sell UK property without paying stamp duty or capital gains tax (10 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: PwC  helped companies to avoid taxes, come up with financial strategies that feature loans among sister companies and other moves designed to shift profits from one part of a corporation to another to reduce or eliminate taxable income (10 Nov 2017)
  • Inside the Secret World of Offshore Mega-Trusts  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Ernst & Young played key role in helping Formula One champ Lewis Hamilton to avoid VAT on his jet bought through the Isle of Man  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Tout used offshore firm to avoid tax on Adele and Ed Sheeran tickets  (10 Nov 2017)
  • 'A cat-and-mouse game': Why closing tax haven loopholes is a challenge  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers reveal a turning tide on tax avoidance  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Should Queen Elizabeth pay tax?  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Top US universities use offshore funds to grow their huge endowments  (10 Nov 2017)
  • The Brexiters who put their money offshore  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Australia should blacklist tax havens, Oxfam says  (10 Nov 2017)
  • EU queries Apple over moving to low-tax Jersey  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Tax avoidance may be legal but it's bankrupting our social order  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Another British Royal (Prince Charles)  Found With Offshore Connections  (10 Nov 2017)
  • e600 Billion and Counting: Why High-Tax Countries Let Tax Havens Flourish (10 Nov 2017)
  • Film scheme investors fail in £1.3m Vanguard share loss relief claim  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Read court judgement in Hardy & Anor v Revenue and Customs (INCOME TAX/CORPORATION TAX : Losses) [2017] UKFTT 754 (TC) (16 October 2017)  (10 Nov 2017)
  • German court sentences Swiss tax spy  (10 Nov 2017)
  • Enough evidence on trusts – where are the State's actions?  (9 Nov 2017)
  • UK House of Commons Debate - Tax Avoidance and Evasion (Isle of Man) (10 Nov 2017)
  • Her Majesty the Queen of Offshore  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Oxford and Cambridge invested tens of millions   (9 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers reveal schemes used to avoid tax on UK property deals  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Luxembourg pulled into Paradise Papers scandal  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: media ignores the real tax culprits - Big Four accountancy firms  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Hiding in Plain Sight: How UK companies are used to launder corrupt wealth  (9 Nov 2017)
  • UK shell companies linked to £80bn money laundering  (9 Nov 2017)
  • British shell companies linked to 52 money laundering scandals  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: office in Potters Bar home to more than 100 shell  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Blackstone avoided UK taxes on St Enoch Centre  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Prince Charles's estate made big profit on stake in friend's offshore firm  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Celebrities' offshore millions revealed in new Paradise Papers leak: Harvey Weinstein, Nicole Kidman, Justin Timberlake, Madonna and Shakira used controversial tax havens (9 Nov 2017)
  • Offshore secrets in the Paradise Papers show we're only at the very beginning in battling tax havens for the super-wealthy  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Bono used Malta-based firm to invest in Lithuanian shopping centre  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Bono says he welcomes investigation into offshore investment  (9 Nov 2017)  
  • Donald Trump pal's firm accused of dodging millions in taxes after purchase of St Enoch Centre  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Paradise Papers: Fishy smell about Namibian tax affairs  (9 Nov 2017)
  • EU warns 53 jurisdictions of tax blacklist threat  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Saudi Arabia 'corruption' arrests are a bold but risky attempt to seize power
     
       (9 Nov 2017)
  • From Harvey Weinstein to Shakira, the celebrities with offshore interests  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Private equity firm made struggling care home operator take costly loan
     
      (9 Nov 2017)
  • Reality Check: Has HMRC saved £160bn since 2010?  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Corporate lobbying a billion dollar business  (9 Nov 2017)
  • Britain can tackle tax avoidance. But we've been here before  (7 Nov 2017)
  • French mutual banks say French one-off tax 'unjustified'  (9 Nov 2017)