# New Treasury Sec.: "My lawyer told me not to report those assets!"



## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

> Steven Mnuchin, the hedge fund millionaire Donald Trump has picked to run the US treasury, failed to disclose nearly $100m in assets to Congress, including his role as a director of offshore funds and close to $1m in art owned by his children.
> 
> The error was disclosed hours before Mnuchin was grilled by the Senate finance committee on Thursday over his role at a California bank that foreclosed on thousands of vulnerable borrowers, his attitude to tax havens and the future regulation of the US financial system.
> 
> ...


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...in-financial-disclosure-confirmation-treasury

If it works for the IRS's boss, surely it will work for the taxpayers. Won't it?


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## Madison1980 (Jan 12, 2017)

You couldn't make this stuff up!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

iota2014 said:


> https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...in-financial-disclosure-confirmation-treasury
> 
> If it works for the IRS's boss, surely it will work for the taxpayers. Won't it?


And as director of a foreign company, I'm "sure" he has filed all the various FATCA forms he was supposed to do, right? Besides, his boss pays no taxes.....

Hm, this starts to get real interesting.
Cheers,
Bev


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## byline (Dec 5, 2011)

“In essence isn’t it true that what you did here is take these companies, put them offshore so you could help your clients, who you were making money from, to avoid US taxation.”

And wasn't the whole point of requiring U.S. citizens to report their financial interests abroad to catch these folks?


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## arlekin (Jan 24, 2017)

byline said:


> “In essence isn’t it true that what you did here is take these companies, put them offshore so you could help your clients, who you were making money from, to avoid US taxation.”
> 
> And wasn't the whole point of requiring U.S. citizens to report their financial interests abroad to catch these folks?


It is very sad that these fat cat Wall Street folks are still able to evade taxes / hide assets and even get the highest posts in the administration and up to 9 million ordinary folks (definitely unrepresented and "forgotten" men and women) take all the beating with FATCA and citizenship tax.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

On the other hand, the IRS has been kind of pathetically underfunded for years. Given the current administration's interest in taxes, one might suppose that this underfunding could easily get worse, much worse. That would quite possibly limit the ability of the IRS to conduct audits, especially overseas.
Cheers,
Bev


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## arlekin (Jan 24, 2017)

Bevdeforges said:


> On the other hand, the IRS has been kind of pathetically underfunded for years. Given the current administration's interest in taxes, one might suppose that this underfunding could easily get worse, much worse. That would quite possibly limit the ability of the IRS to conduct audits, especially overseas.
> Cheers,
> Bev


This administration is unpredictable. It is not clear what they will do. If Trump repeals FATCA and GOP honour their promise for the RBT, I am a happy man. Doubt it will happen though.


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

Bevdeforges said:


> On the other hand, the IRS has been kind of pathetically underfunded for years. Given the current administration's interest in taxes, one might suppose that this underfunding could easily get worse, much worse. That would quite possibly limit the ability of the IRS to conduct audits, especially overseas.
> Cheers,
> Bev


Mnuchin has said he wants to increase funding to the IRS in order to improve revenue and bring the systems uptodate.

Plans to upgrade technical systems often result in bringing everything to a near standstill for several years, of course.


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

iota2014 said:


> Mnuchin has said he wants to increase funding to the IRS in order to improve revenue and bring the systems uptodate.
> 
> Plans to upgrade technical systems often result in bringing everything to a near standstill for several years, of course.


Signs of action:



> The IRS is looking for three people to serve three-year terms beginning in September. Applicants should have experience in areas like cybersecurity and information security, tax software development, tax prep, payroll and tax financial product processing, systems management and improvement, implementation of customer service initiatives and public administration.
> [..]
> Anyone wishing to nominate a qualified person may submit a letter, and self-nominations are also welcome..._(anyone? please...)_
> 
> *Applicants must also submit a tax check waiver and undergo an IRS practitioner background check and an FBI criminal background check.*


So - far more stringent criteria than for the office of US President. 

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/applicants-sought-for-irs-electronic-tax-committee


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I wouldn't get too concerned - this announcement is just for an "advisory committee," not for a position that would have any actual authority. Enhancing the IRS systems will take several years and lots of $$$ which, even if included in the preliminary budget, will still have to be appropriated by Congress, and there are rifts showing up already amongst the Republicans on budgetary matters.
Cheers,
Bev


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

Bringing IRS technology and data security up to 21st century standards would be a boon to US expats, not a reason for concern, IMO. I'm just doubtful it's going to happen, and enjoying a little moment of _schadenfreude_ watching them struggle.



> ...there are rifts showing up already amongst the Republicans on budgetary matters.


Indeed.


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## iota2014 (Jul 30, 2015)

At the moment, it appears that a USC filing a return abroad, or filing FBARs, has _no_ assurance of adequate data protection. FATCA data security depends largely on the standards that happen to be in effect in the non-US sending country; once the data arrives in the US, it's just as vulnerable as domestic US tax data.

Updated IRS systems and standards, if properly implemented, could give compliant expats a decent level of protection and accountability. Of course, improved technology could also allow the IRS to make more effective use of cross-checks (consistency, plausibility, etc.). However, the evidence seems to suggest that the IRS and its political masters have little interest in pursuing expat minnows, given the difficulties of enforcement, and indeed would prefer _not_ to test CBT issues in court if they can avoid it. Updated technology systems would make no difference to the underlying geopolitical factors which make CBT difficult to enforce, and which allow most expats to go on ignoring it.


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