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Tax Amnesties

By Chris Dykes
The law library has recently acquired Tax Amnesties published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business deals with an emerging topic in the international taxation field. Tax amnesty is granted by countries to lift the tax liability on individuals in exchange for the disclosure of the offender's hidden assets whether it be in the form of real property, bank accounts, or investments in foreign corporations, and pay the tax owed. The conditions and benefits vary ranging from allowing the taxpayer to avoid criminal prosecution to lifting penalties or lowering the tax liability.

Tax Amnesties looks at this issue from an international standpoint investigating what tax amnesty entails. First, it begins with the collapse of secrecy by the banks that historically allowed taxpayers to hide assets from their home countries and then provides a thorough survey of approaches taken by select nations throughout the globe. The legal impact of tax amnesties and their compatibility with international agreements are also discussed as well as an evaluation of such amnesties altogether. The appendices contain amnesty tax laws for thirteen select nations. This title is located on the news titles shelf across from the circulation desk in the law library.
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