Belize under Siege – the IRS Hunt Continues.

Long considered a bastion of banking privacy, Belize banks are now becoming the increasing target of IRS scrutiny. A federal judge recently granted two “John Doe” summons allowing the IRS to demand account information from Belize banks relating to two cases it is pursuing against US citizens.

Belize is the second jurisdiction targeted by the IRS. In recent years, similar summons were used in Switzerland to obtain confidential taxpayer information from Swiss banks. Once considered the grandfather of banking privacy, the Swiss banking system has lost much of its appeal to taxpayers seeking legiti
mate privacy and confidentiality protection.

It remains to be seen how Belize will respond to the summons. But based on the Swiss experience, it appears likely that privacy in the Belize banking system will also be compromised.

Several jurisdictions throughout the world retain their strict confidentiality and non-disclosure policies regarding bank accountholder information. If privacy is something you need, contact Nielsen Law Group and we can assist you in identifying ones that remain viable. Call (480) 888-7111 or submit a web request here.