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Abstract: 

The U.S. government has been focusing its attention on foreign investors who may be investing proceeds of illegal activity into U.S. entities without identifying the natural persons who are the beneficial owners of the equity interests in such entities. There is great concern that the U.S. has allowed itself to be used as a tax haven due to the lack of transparency in certain states’ laws, which do not require the disclosure of entity ownership. This article looks at FinCEN’s current anti-tax-avoidance measures, including the new account opening requirements, along with the requirements relating to cash purchases of high-end real estate with which title insurance companies and U.S. lenders must comply. Additionally, this article discusses the Treasury Department’s expanded requirements for reporters of bank deposit interest to foreign tax authorities.

Keywords: tax transparency; tax avoidance; tax reporting; disclosure of foreign ownership; customer due diligence rules; U.S. as a tax haven

Affiliations:  1: New York Law School.