Offshore Tax Scams & Myths By Vernon K. Jacobs, CPA  & J. Richard Duke, J.D., LLM

The following links are to summary explanations of an assortment of offshore tax schemes, myths, half-truths and scams that are being promoted on the internet, through seminars and by the authors of books that proclaim that tax freedom is available with tax havens, foreign trusts, foreign corporations and an assortment of dubious arrangements outside the U.S.

Some of these are mere myths that are lingering from an earlier time before the tax collectors became more worldly. Others are schemes in the sense of a secret plan or even a conspiracy to evade taxes, where both the promoter and the taxpayer are participants.

But many of these arrangements are outright scams - by which we mean they are patently false methods of avoiding taxes that are being promoted by scoundrels who have absolutely no concern about the consequences to their victims. Sometimes, the dividing line between a tax scam and a legitimate method of tax avoidance appears to the novice to be a matter of legalistic hair splitting. We feel the primary difference is that the legitimate method of avoiding taxes is sanctioned by the legislature through the tax law whereas the illegal method is expressly prohibited.  A second form of distinction is that a legal method of tax avoidance does not rely on any kind of secrecy or deception, whereas an illegal scheme nearly always involves some element of subtrefuge and secrecy.

Our goal is to debunk the illegal methods and to educate those who are interested to understand the differences between illegal scams and legal methods of tax reduction. 

Vernon K. Jacobs, CPA
J. Richard Duke, J.D., LL.M.

What's a Tax Scam or Tax Scheme?

How to Avoid Being the Victim of a Con Game or Inept Advisor

Due Diligence for Offshore Investors

Scam: Create a Foreign Corporation Without Being a Shareholder

Scam: U.S. Virgin Islands Business Investment Incentive for Residents

Myth of the Secret Foreign Bank Account

Myth of the Secret Trusts of the Wealthy

About the authors: Vernon Jacobs is a CPA who provides tax accounting and consulting services for clients with international interests.   J. Richard Duke , JD, LLM is an attorney who specializes in international tax law and is an Adjunct Professor of international tax law.  Sponsored by Offshore Press, Inc.., Copyright, 2006, All rights reserved. Offshore Press, Inc., Box 8194, Prairie Village, KS 66208. Phone (913) 362-9667. Email to Offshore Press  Vernon K. Jacobs, Webauthor .