Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley yesterday called for new laws targeting offshore tax evasion, following a new federal report that found American ties to thousands of firms registered in the Cayman Islands.
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (D-Iowa)
Grassley, along with Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus, D-Mont., said during a hearing yesterday that the Internal Revenue Service needs a longer statute of limitations to prosecute those who fail to report foreign accounts, clearer authority to enforce the filing requirement and stricter identity-disclosure rules for those who profit from offshore transactions.
“Finding these tax cheats is a bit like a game of cat and mouse. Only the mouse is hiding its cheese offshore,†Grassley said in a statement. “The IRS needs to be able to stay ahead of the schemers who hide their income offshore. Congress needs to continue giving the IRS more tools to trap the tax cheats. The Chairman and I will be releasing a set of proposals designed to do just that.â€
The Washington Independent’s Mike Lillis reported today that the hearing on the Cayman Islands and offshore tax evasion was spurred by a report by the Government Accountability Office that said a single, five-story Cayman Islands building is home to almost 19,000 different financial entities.
Roughly 900 of those entities are U.S.-owned, the GAO found, and between 40 and 50 percent have a U.S. billing address. The report came one week after a Senate panel estimated that abusive offshore arrangements deprive the federal government of roughly $100 billion per year.
Grassley has been focused on the issue of tax evasion of late. Last year he began asking for financial information on six televangelist ministries he believes may be enjoying lavish benefits not allowed under their tax-exempt status. Grassley has asked the groups to open their books to aides on the Finance Committee.
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