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Monday, June 24, 2019

KPMG - Taxing Hidden Wealth: The Consequences of U.S. Enforcement Initiatives on Evasive Foreign Accounts

An inconvenient truth: regulation often helps the very companies being regulated against because the rules are so expensive to follow that only incumbents can afford it.

High-profile detective Gary Jubelin charged over alleged illegal recordings


The high-profile detective sensationally quit the NSW Police last month. He has now been charged with four criminal offences.





'Political football': controversial NSW coal project granted mining licence


The controversial Wallarah 2 coal project has been granted mining licences by the NSW government.


Former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell (centre).
 *Open Market Institute via LM

Day of Reckoning for KPMG-Failures in EthicsFCPA Compliance Report (Chuck L). Wowsers. The article is full of stuff like this:
In addition to taking these mandatory CPE hours, the professionals are required to pass a proficiency examination, administered by KPMG. KPMG also provides internal training to help its professional prepare for this examination. Professionals get three chances to pass. If they fail three times, they are reported internally, cannot sign off on audit assignment and may receive a dock in pay.
However it turns out that KMPG employees, from senior partners including lead audit engagement partners who were responsible for compliance with PCAOB standards in auditing their clients’ financial statements, down to junior level employees were sharing the examination answers freely between themselves. They shared this information via email and even sent screen shots of pages with correct answers.


Jay Soled (Rutgers), Reimagining the Estate Tax in the Automation Era, 9 UC Irvine L. Rev. 787 (2019):
In a technological age, labor no longer plays the central role it once did in the nation’s economy. Instead, automation has become more ubiquitous. This economic transformation has important and far-reaching consequences for the nation’s tax system and, in particular, the means by which to fund public expenditures.
Under current law, the central underpinning to automatization, namely, capital, yields income that is either lightly taxed or, in some instances, escapes taxation altogether. This puts tremendous stress on the nation’s coffers and further perpetuates wealth disparities. Yet, levying a heavier capital gains tax burden might (i) dissuade taxpayers from realizing their gains and (ii) in a global arena, result in its flight.


The IRS has released the papers from the 2018 IRS-TPC Joint Research Conference: on Tax Administration (program, research bulletin):
1. Interventions: Factors That Contribute to Voluntary Compliance
2. Behavioral Responses to IRS Interventions


3. Complexity and Global Tax Administration
4. Future Directions in Tax Administration
Here are PDF copies of the slides from sessions 1, 2, 3, and 4:
Session 1     Session 2    Session 3    Session 4