IRS CHECKS OFFSHORE CREDIT CARDS.

U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) went to federal court in seven U.S. cities to get summonses seeking information from 44 major companies in an effort to identify people using offshore credit cards who may be avoiding taxes, reports Cable News Network (Aug. 29, 2002):

The summonses are directed to businesses that engaged in business with individuals using MasterCard payment cards issued by banks in Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas or the Cayman Islands. The summonses to firms including major retailers, airlines, and Internet service providers follows a request for information from MasterCard earlier in the month;

The IRS says as many as one to two million U.S. citizens may have credit cards issued by offshore banks. That compares with only about 170,000 filings of reports showing foreign bank accounts, and only about 117,000 individual 1040 filers indicating offshore accounts. The investigation began nearly a year ago when a federal judge in Miami issued an order authorizing the IRS to serve summonses on MasterCard and American Express. A similar summons on Visa records was sought in March.

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Copyright 2002