GovTrack.us

 
Bookmark and Share
S. 681:
Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act
110th Congress

This is a bill in the U.S. Congress originating in the Senate ("S."). A bill must be passed by both the Senate and House and then be signed by the President before it becomes law.

Bill numbers restart from 1 every two years. Each two-year cycle is called a session of Congress. This bill was created in the 110th Congress, in 2007-2008.

The titles of bills are written by the bill's sponsor and are a part of the legislation itself. GovTrack does not editorialize bill summaries.

2007-2008

Summaries

Congressional Research Service Summary

The following summary was written by the Congressional Research Service, a well-respected nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress. GovTrack did not write and has no control over these summaries.

2/17/2007--Introduced.

Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to tax shelter activities to: (1) establish legal presumptions against the validity of transactions involving offshore secrecy jurisdictions (i.e., foreign tax havens identified in this Act and by the Secretary of the Treasury); (2) impose restrictions on foreign jurisdictions, financial institutions, or international transactions that are of primary money laundering concern or that impede U.S. tax enforcement; (3) increase the period for Internal Revenue Service review of tax returns involving offshore secrecy jurisdictions; (4) require tax withholding agents and financial institutions to report certain information about beneficial owners of foreign-owned financial accounts and accounts established in offshore secrecy jurisdictions; and (5) disallow tax advisor opinions validating transactions in offshore secrecy jurisdictions.

Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and other federal enactments to impose a penalty for failure to disclose holdings or transactions involving a foreign entity.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to publish a final rule requiring unregistered investment companies, including hedge funds or private equity funds, to establish anti-money laundering programs and to submit suspicious activity reports.

Modifies requirements for certain third party summonses used to obtain information in tax investigations that do not identify the person with respect to whose liability the summons is issued (John Doe summons).

Increases penalties for promoting abusive tax shelters and for aiding and abetting the understatement of tax liability.

Prohibits tax advisor contingent fee agreements for obtaining tax savings or benefits.

Allows increased disclosure of tax information for enforcement purposes.

Directs the Secretary to impose standards for written tax opinions by tax practitioners.

Denies tax deductions for certain fines and penalties for violations of law and for interest paid on certain understatements of tax.

Sets forth rules for the application of the economic substance doctrine and imposes penalties for underpayments of tax due to transactions lacking economic substance.

Because the U.S. Congress posts most legislative information online one legislative day after events occur, GovTrack is usually one legislative day behind. For more information about where this data comes from, see About GovTrack.us.
To cite this information, click a citation format for a suggestion: APA | MLA | Wikipedia Template.