US IRS recovers $3.2 bln from shelter settlement (scams for the wealthy)

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=7998588

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has recovered $3.2 billion in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties from users of the illegal "Son of Boss" tax shelter, the agency said on Thursday.

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The typical settlement payment was almost $1 million, with 18 tax payers paying more then $20 million each and one paying over $100 million. The three largest settlements together came to $270 million.

Everson said there were "well-known" corporations and prominent individuals who participated in the scheme, but declined to name any of them. Some had to sell villas and yachts to make their tax payments, he said.

...more...

OH, the horror! Families without their villas or yachts!

aircraft carrier. :-)

Imagine a car jacker being allowed to pay a fine which removes his name from the public record. Sorry, but I think we should be told who these corporations and people were. Confidentiality should never have been allowed. We, the public, have a right to know who the players are in our society, so we can decide how much of their crap we're willing to tolerate.

IRS crackdown on tax shelters brings in more than $3.2 billion

By Jim Abrams
ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 25, 2005

WASHINGTON – The IRS has collected more than $3.2 billion, mainly from wealthy people, in its most ambitious effort ever to crack down on improper tax shelters, the agency said yesterday.

There's been "some real pain" among the 1,165 taxpayers who are participating in the "Son of Boss" tax shelter settlement, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said at a news conference. "Some people have had to sell their villas and yachts" to come up with the money.

Everson said there were 400 people who have chosen not to participate and an additional 200 involved in the tax shelter who didn't qualify for the settlement plan. The agency should garner some $3.5 billion before the project concludes in the coming months, he said.

A spinoff of an older shelter called "Boss," the scheme known as "Son of Boss" is a highly complex, no-risk strategy where promoters such as accounting firms and investment banks sold financial products that generated losses to offset large gains, often from selling a business or exercising stock options.

More..

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050325/news_1n25irs.html

for very long!!

I want them to tell us who they were.

Seriously, I hate free riders, especially the ones with yachts. :mad:

And their supporters?

Makes the bankruptcy bill go down a bit more easily if we believe they're cracking down on the rich too. Sorry, I don't buy these "well known" but unnamed perps.