IRS Criminal Investigations on the Rise

If you thought an IRS audit was bad news, just wait until the IRS agents with guns come and take you down.  The IRS Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, can seize your records, tap your phone, spy on your emails, and treat you like a major criminal – all for failing to pay up.  The IRS CID has the ability to take everything from you… including your freedom.

Once indicted, you have a 98.5% probability of going to jail.  The average sentence is 27 months.  And these weapons of mass destruction are being turned on all high net worth Americans, not just those with offshore accounts.

Under President Obama, the wealthy are more likely to come under criminal investigation.  The IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has increased referrals for prosecution by nearly 40% under this President and I expect this number will double (to an 80 – 100% increase) before his term is over.

Just as the IRS targeted conservative fund raising organizations, they are now being accused of hitting wealthy Americans that “fit the mold” of Republican donors.  Many, such as Grover Norquest of Americans for Tax Reform, claim that some of these attacks are political assassinations meant to cut off money flow to rivals.  That the IRS is targeting Republican donors for criminal prosecution.  Others have suggested that its wealthy conservatives who are the big fish each IRS CID agent wants to mount on his wall.  That it’s open season on the wealthy in America.

Here are the stats:  The IRS CID recommended criminal prosecution in 4,201 cases last year, an increase of 38% from 2012.  The Department of Justice indicted 2,010 of these referrals.  Expect these numbers to increase during the remainder of Obama’s term as the IRS CID and DOJ are hiring as quickly as possible.

Let me give you a little background.  Just 10 years ago, no one other than drug dealers and money launderers were charged with offshore tax crimes.  These laws, and their draconian penalties, were intended to target dangerous individuals who couldn’t be taken down otherwise.  Think Al Capone and that ilk.

Tax preparers and lawyers had never heard of what is now the IRS’s primary weapon: the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR), though it had been a law on the books for decades.  There was no effort to criminalize most forms of tax planning and offshore tax matters were civil cases, just like traditional IRS audits.

That is, until the IRS learned how profitable putting Americans in jail could be!

From 2006 though 2008, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division waged an all out war on offshore accounts.  The Swiss bank UBS eventually fell and released the names of 3,000 of its clients, who immediately became targets of the CID.  So far, the IRS prosecuted about 550 of these individuals.  They selected one or two from each state to maximize the news cycle impact…to make sure their press releases got on every news cast and in every paper in the country.

* Eighty percent of the press releases just happen to come out in the weeks before April 15. Are they criminals or pawns in the Government’s marketing campaign?

This strategy worked great for the IRS…maybe not as well for the pawns.  It brought in about $10 billion in new revenue from taxes, interest and penalties.  Thousands of high net worth individuals, as well as average citizens living abroad and those with extended families in foreign countries, all lined up to pay to avoid jail.

Very little of these payments came from actual targets of the IRS CID.  Those with offshore account went broke defending themselves and while in jail.  Most of the revenues came from expats and others with accounts that the IRS did not know of..which was the purpose of the campaign.

NOTE: If you have an offshore account and don’t want to become one of the pawns, please take a read through my post on the IRS’s Voluntary Disclosure Program.

After maximize returns on their attack on the Swiss banks, , the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and other government agencies turned their sights of fining just about any international bank they could find. They quickly learned that they could fine banks just about any amount of money and get paid.  This brought in a few more billion and the free for all was on.  See my post on the $9 billion extorted from the French bank BNP Paribas.

IRS criminal investigations have been so profitable that the government is doubling down and hiring new gunslingers as fast as they can sign them up.  This also means that they will need to expand their number of targets and their case selection criteria.

As a result, the IRS is now targeting all wealthy Americans, not just those with offshore accounts.  Just because you have no international exposure, don’t think you’re safe from the new and more aggressive IRS CID.  Many tax matters that were once civil cases are turning criminal.  The IRS has found its targets are much more pliable, and willing to pay big fines, when they are at risk of going to jail for a few years.

It is possible that these cases are targeting high net worth Republican donors.  At least, that’s how it appears to lawyers and targets in the fight.  And, considering the IRS’s track record on targeting political rivals (Republican foundations and Gov. Perry to name two), it doesn’t seem to far fetched that they would use the criminal system to cut the purse strings of Republicans.

* The IRS Director Doug Sholman paid nearly 150 visits to the Obama White House from 2010 to 2012, far more than any other IRS director.

To put your mind at ease, or to increase the pressure, depending on where you land on the financial spectrum, here is a summary of your IRS audit risks.

For most working families, the probability of going before the great collector is slim.  If you earn $50,000 to $100,000 per year, you have only a .06% chance of being audited.

For those with incomes of $100,000 to $1 million, it varies from 1% to about 5%.  If you are self-employed and filing a Schedule C, you are at the higher end.  A W-2 with no charitable contributions or capital gains and you are near the bottom.

Now for the bad news.  If you earn over $1 million, your audit risk jumps to 12%.  If you reach the top of the heap and have an income of over $10 million, you have a 25% chance of facing down a very aggressive IRS agent.

Note that a 25% chance of being audited means you will likely be under the microscope three out of every four years.  An IRS exam typically covers three tax years.  So, you have a one in four chance of being audited and, once selected, they will analyze three years of returns.

It’s these higher net worth individuals who have the highest likelihood of criminal persecution.  Of those earning less than $250,000, the risk of a criminal charge is minimal.  Eighty-five percent of the cases brought are filed against those earning $1 million or more.  Though, the UBS cases were an exception because the government needed targets in each state.

Once you’re targeted by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, you have a nearly 50% chance of going to jail.  The DOJ prosecutes about 50% of the cases referred by IRS CID (at least until they hire more staff) and 95% of these settle.  Also, the average time to complete a tax fraud case is 2 years and the average jail sentence is 27 months.  That’s followed by 3 to 5 years of probation.

While the case is going on, you must report all of your comings and goings to Pretrial Services and submit financial statements each month.  Most find it near impossible to work while on Pretrial release…especially those with small businesses or the self-employed.

As a result of their finances and businesses being destroyed in this process, many families don’t survive.  About 1/3^rd are divorced by the time the target gets out of jail.

The U.S. government is going all in on criminal prosecutions by the IRS CID.  It is by far the best returning division of the IRS and you can expect it to continue bringing in the cash in the years to come.

Will Anyone Stand Up?

The government fired the first shots in the war on financial privacy with the Patriot Act in 2001.  As we all cowered under our desks in fear of another terrorist attack, our freedoms went out the back door…and no one said a word.

The U.S. extorted billions from Swiss banks and ruined the lives of 550 of its citizens, all in the name of increased revenue.  Americas were used as pawns in the tax game and no one stood up.

Then the U.S. turned offshore bankers in to unpaid IRS agents with FACTA.  As a result, Americans are persona non grata at most banks around the world.  Yet, no one said enough is enough.

Now that the IRS CID is targeting the wealthy, possible for political gain, will anyone step up and say enough is enough?

When the IRS knocks down your door with men in military style clothes and weaponry, will anyone resist?

When it’s you handcuffed on the floor with your wife crying and your kids screaming in the corner, being restrained by wanna-be commandos in flack jackets and guns drawn, will anyone come to your aid?

If you have unreported offshore accounts and would like to know your options, please email us at info@premieroffshore.com. We can review your situation and refer you to an experienced attorney if necessary.

If you are thinking of living, investing, or doing business offshore, and need an international tax and business consultant who will keep you in compliance with the US government, give is a call at (619) 483-1708.