================================================= Expat Worlds Monthly Digest ================================================= September, 2003 Vol. 5, Issue 8 .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== THE STORY =================== (Compliment from the Expat World Newsletter) -=Taxing Matters - Calling All Snitches=- ==== EW SPECIAL ================== -=Western European Bank Account=- ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... == -=Trivia=- -=News Story=- -=Traveller's Tales=- -=Jokes=- ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============= -=Local Times Around the World=- ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD == -=Table of Content=- ==== THE STORY ================================== TAXING MATTERS - CALLING ALL SNITCHES Making tax cheats pay up can pay off. You can inform the IRS of people who cheat on their taxes and get up to a 15% reward. But the quality of the information is critical. So is a lot of patience. EXPAT WORLD does not in anyway endorse turning in people to the tax authorities. This information is for informational purposes only and we think anyone that would USE it is a scumbag and may they and their wife be infested with a thousand fleas. Do you know a tax cheat? Turn him in for fun and profit! For those opportunists who would suffer the shame of ratting on their friends and associates to the IRS may you get your head screwed on right in the near future, You may justify the act to yourself by rationalizing that every buck "they" hide from Uncle Sam ultimately means more money from the rest of us. You will probably try to justifiably stake the moral high ground by exposing these shirkers, especially if they've been cheating you out of child support or rubbing their shiny new Jag in your face. But this just shows that you don't know the real thieves in the tax game -- THE IRS! The real fun part is keeping the IRS out of EVERYONES' pocket.. Now about the profit part. If you provide sufficiently detailed information on a tax cheat to the criminal investigation unit of the Internal Revenue Service, you may receive up to 15% of the amount recovered in taxes and penalties (but not interest) as a tip for your tip. But don't start shopping for that beachfront in Bora-Bora just yet. To have a chance at collecting on your high-living relative or slimy former boss, you have to have the goods, follow procedures, ask for a reward and wait an awfully long time – it could be two years or more -- for the cash. Even then, the IRS is under no obligation to give you a dime. "We determined from a study that one in 10 informants actually asks for a reward and approximately one in 10 of those gets one," says Jeaneen Heiskell, IRS senior program analyst. Millions paid, more collected -- In fiscal 2002, informant information prompted the IRS to pay $7.7 million in rewards and led to $66.9 million recovered in taxes, fines, penalties and interest. There were 6,982 reward claims filed during that period and just 215 rewards allowed in full. (Those two figures do not correlate in part because a reward is rarely paid in the same year the claim is filed.) While your reward could be handsome indeed, the money actually recovered amounts to a drop in the bucket for the IRS, which may explain the program's relatively low profile. "To put it in perspective, the IRS collects more than $2 trillion a year; we have something like 227 million returns that we process every year," says IRS spokeswoman Nancy Mathis. "There are only 100,000 IRS employees. It's just difficult to keep up the pace. The $66.9 million is not a big figure in the scheme of things, but every little bit helps." Ready to put some of that "little bit" into your own pocket? If you've got the dope on a tax dodger, here's how to jumpstart your early-retirement account. Turning in a tax cheat -- You could be just a phone call away from riches. Just dial the Informant Communication Hotline at 1-800-829-0433. Be sure to tell them upfront that you want to file Form 211, Application for Reward for Original Information. Without it, you won't see any monetary reward. Form 211 will ask for your true name and signature. Mail it to the Informants Claim Examiner at the IRS center nearest you. Addresses are listed on the back of the form, or call the Informant Communication Hotline for help. Here's where the quality of your information is critical. IRS investigators are swamped with leads, most of them more vindictive than substantial, and understandably tend to pursue those with the best likelihood of recovering substantial revenue. The information you provide could be rewarded by the IRS on one of three levels based on the amount recovered: * 15% for specific information responsible for the investigation and a factor in the recovery, * 10% for information, but not specific, resulting in an investigation and determination of tax liabilities and * 1% for information leading to an investigation, but with no direct relationship to the determination of the tax liabilities (for instance, you only supplied a name). To increase your reward chances, provide as much detail as you can. The IRS is especially grateful when informants have the tax cheat's full name, address, Social Security number, tax years involved, types of violation, bank account information and documentation to support the claims. "If somebody just says, 'My next door neighbor just pulled up in a new Jaguar, I know he's not reporting all of his income," that is not very useful information," says Laurie Levin, director of Internal-External Stakeholders for the IRS. "On the extreme other side, 'I was the bookkeeper for this company and during that period of time, this is what Bob had me doing with the books and by the way, here's a copy,' that's clearly 15%. It absolutely depends upon the type of information, the quality and detail of the information and the amount." Reward vs. effort -- While the IRS won't provide information on its largest reward or indeed any specific rewards, by law it can't pay more than $2 million and, according to Levin, won't pay less than $100. Simply put, if your tax cheat isn't worth substantially more than what it will cost the IRS to pursue him, you're unlikely to see any moola. By law, current and former employees of the cannot apply for a reward. Nor can you collect if you were part of the scheme. In fact, you may want to think twice about turning in your former boss if you don't want the IRS peeking at your own returns. "I don't know that we're likely to look into it, but I would imagine that it might be fairly obvious if someone is the bookkeeper and they prepared the fraudulent return," Heiskell says. "It's not a normal course of business when we receive information to do a background check on the informant," Levin agrees, "but if something happened to come out that would preclude them from getting a reward, then that may come to light." Don't hold your breath waiting for a check after you've turned in your tax cheat. Due to disclosure laws, the IRS won't even say what it's doing with the information you provided, although it gets plenty of calls from people wondering precisely that. Once you've filed a Form 211, you can expect one of two things from the IRS, often months or years later: a letter with a check (the exception) or a letter saying you didn't meet the criteria for a reward (the rule). Should you be lucky enough to receive a reward, don't forget to declare it as income on your tax returns for the year in which it was issued. You wouldn't want to cheat the IRS, would you? Not many people are fans of the IRS rewards program. Some see the secretive way in which rewards are granted as a vestige of the arrogance for which Congress took the IRS to task in the Tax Reform Acts of 1998 and 1999. "The problem with the program is that payment is entirely within the IRS's discretion and those who have sued in court to receive the reward have lost because the courts have held that the IRS has that discretion," says Robert Sommers, a San Francisco tax lawyer. "If there was a neutral decision-maker in the process and clear guidelines as to the information that was needed to claim an award, the program would might be more successful, especially in the offshore trust area." Sommers says that with a little retooling, the program could easily go after the really deep pockets: offshore tax shelters. These foreign-based accounts and associated credit-card scams top the IRS priority list. "Imagine if the IRS became nastier than it already is and offered a no-questions-asked, tax-free reward of 10% for all money collected based on a clear criteria. Then imagine advertising this policy in tax-haven countries where U.S. tax evasion is being practiced on a large scale. If the program was aggressively promoted and administered fairly and independently, I would expect billions to be collected," he says. With that kind of money at stake, Sommers predicts a whole new industry of high-tech bounty hunters would gladly join the hunt for fat cats by hungry rats. "If the IRS estimate of $70 billion annually being hidden offshore is true, then they would be creating a $7 billion incentive to provide information regarding these activities. Add to the offshore tax cheating domestic cheating and organized crime and the potential recovery would probably top $100 billion." That's probably enough to waste financing another Iraq war." ==== EW SPECIAL ================================= WESTERN EUROPEAN BANK An Account with Internet Banking and a Visa Card! Here at Expat World we do the impossible. We are now able to get you a personal account at a major Western European Bank based just on a copy of your passport. We've been asked by many of our readers and client's if we can do this and have now plowed through the almost impossible post 911 hysteria to find a bank with a reasonable attitude. Before you become suspicious this account is NOT with the former Eastern block bank in Latvia, Estonia, Hungary etc. It's a 5-star bank complete with internet banking access and a Visa card which has branches located throughout its home country and other EU nations. For details go to or email us at office@expatworld.net with "Western Europe Bank Info" in the subject heading. ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... ================ TRIVIA When two women of the Choroti tribe in Paraguay want to marry the same man, how do they settle matters? A: The man is set loose in the forest and both women track him down. The girl who finds him first gets B: They both don tapir skin boxing gloves and fight it out C: Both of them marry him D: They both carve a balabossa nut each with their names and put it in the fire. The one that pops firs (Answer below) ----- NEWS STORY Bar top dancing a go-go as strait-laced S'pore loosens up BAR top dancing has finally been given the green light in normally strait-laced Singapore as authorities, who for years have kept a tight rein on fun, show gradual signs of loosening up. Police this week revoked a law that banned revellers in bars and clubs from dancing in places deemed unsuitable, while also expanding the number of entertainment outlets allowed to operate 24 hours a day. Getting up on a bar was one of the areas deemed out of bounds, with party goers facing a fine of S$750 (US$430) if they climbed up to perform. Establishment owners faced losing their licenses if caught twice allowing patrons on top of the bar. A police spokesman told AFP Thursday the ban had previously been considered a "safety and order" issue, with the high possibility of fights and disorderly behaviour after excessive alcohol consumption. "The bar-top is also pretty narrow and high, it's not made for dancing and with excess alcohol, you may get yourself hurt and others as well," he said, adding that the onus was now on owners to ensure safety. The announcement has generated excitement within Singapore's entertainment industry. "We have already called some designers in to look at putting in various elevated platforms and railings around the room, including bar tops and ledges," the general manager of the popular China Jump bar and restaurant told "It certainly adds to the atmosphere of the room," the general manager, giving his name only as Jonty, said. Other regulation changes include 24-hour licensing for entertainment venues in non residential districts. Restrictions on performers at nightclubs and bars mingling with the customers, put in place to discourage prostitution, have also been relaxed. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong last year hinted in his National Day Rally speech that Singapore, famed for censorship of racy films and magazines, would relax some social restrictions as a part a drive to encourage creativity. "Maybe we shall allow dancing on bar tops," Goh had said prophetically. ----- TRAVELLER'S TALES BEAT IT: A 27-year-old Thai bridegroom told guests at his wedding party that he was just nipping out to a bank cash machine to get the 80,000 baht ($1,826) dowry money he had promised to pay. Instead, he found a quiet corner and attacked himself, tearing his clothes and smashing his head against the pavement. He returned to tell the in-laws that he had been robbed. But under police questioning, he admitted the truth. His bride-to-be never wants to see him again, the Thai Daily News reported. She has also demanded he pay the 60,000 baht bill for the party. ----- The word "politics" is made up of two separate words: "poly", from the Greek word meaning MANY, and "tics" - which means IRRITATING INSECTS! - "Only Lawyers and mental defectives are automatically exempt for jury duty." -- George Bernard Shaw ----- A guy was in a cave, looking for treasure. He found an old lamp, rubbed it, and a genie came out. The genie said "I will grant you three wishes, but your ex-wife will get double." The man agreed, and said "I wish I had a mansion." The genie granted it, and his ex-wife got two mansions. The man said "I would like a million dollars." The genie again granted it and his ex-wife got two million dollars. Then the man said, "Scare me half to death." - Two guys were riding in a car, arguing about how to say the name of the city that they were in. One said "Louieville" and the other "Louiseville." They went on arguing and arguing, until they came upon a fast-food restaurant. The one guy goes inside and says to the waitress, "Tell me the name of the place where I am right now really, really, really slowly." The waitress goes, "Bur-ger-King." ----- TRIVIA ANSWER When two women of the Choroti tribe in Paraguay want to marry the same man, how do they settle matters? The correct answer: B (They both don tapir skin boxing gloves and fight it out.) ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============================ LOCAL TIMES AROUND THE WORLD This guide attempts to list all of the world's countries, and many of its islands. Times consider Daylight Savings Time. Except for the Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean Islands, islands are often included with either the sovereign country listing, or with the nearest continent. Go to ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD =============== EXPAT WORLD NEWSLETTER (VOL.15 ISSUE 7) Table of Content: - GUATEMALA WELCOMES NEW CITIZENS - BITS AND PIECES - OSLO, NORWAY - NEW ZEALAND FART TAX STINKS - CHINA JUDGES WARNED - POT AND MATH DON'T MIX - THE RUDEST - SMALLER BITS - CONTRABAND - SEX WHILE DRIVING - SEX MAKES YOU SMARTER - SMOOTH THOSE THIGHS - ALIEN INVASION - INSTANT CITIZENSHIP - LAW 306 MAKES IT EASY TO START A BUSINESS IN NICARAGUA - CHEAP REGISTRY OF DOMAIN NAMES - SETTING UP BUSINESSES IN HONG KONG - TAXING MATTERS - CALLING ALL SNITCHES - CANADA TURNS ANTI-AMERICAN - DATE PALMS SATURATE THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES' LANDSCAPE - THE SECRET PATRIOT ACT II DESTROYS WHAT IS LEFT OF AMERICAN LIBERTY - SNIPS AND CLIPS - AROUND THE WORLD WITH EXPAT WORLD - REFLECTIONS ON LIFE - CRAPPER RAPPER - MILTARY INTELLIGENCE -- AN OXYMORON YOU MISSING SO MUCH Each week the EXPAT WORLD DIGEST gives you just a smattering of what you can find in the EXPAT WORLD newsletter that we produce once a month. 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