Senate Report On Abusive Offshore Trusts

I occasionally get email questions about offshore trusts for people interested in sheltering income taxes. My reply always is that asset protection planning is income tax neutral, and that an asset protection plan is not designed to reduce taxes. Nevertheless, there are promoters and attorneys who market various plans to reduce income tax involving one or more offshore legal entity. There is a well know website called Quatloos.com which reports on tax evasion scams and the prosecution of their promoters. In a November 1, 2006, post Quatloos includes a report on offshore tax havens written by the U.S. Senate committee investigating income tax scams.

The Senate report is lengthy but very interesting. Anyone who is thinking of involvment in an offshore legal structure promising to reduce income tax should read portions of the Senate report. The report is very detailed in its description of abusive offshore tax schemes, and it names the promoters and attorneys responsible. The Senate Report can be seen at:
http://www.quatloos.com/tax_haven_abuses.pdf

posted by Jonathan Alper, asset protection and bankruptcy attorney, Orlando, Florida