The IRS yesterday announced (IR-2007-104) that the Commissioners of the Australian, Canadian, U.K., and U.S. tax administrations have decided to open a second office of the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre (JITSIC) in London in Fall 2007. In addition, Japan has accepted an invitation to join JITSIC, and a representative of the National Tax Agency will be present at the London centre:

• The Commissioners agreed that exchanging information in real-time is making a significant difference to the complex task of tracking tax avoidance and abusive cross-border transactions. JITSIC members have identified and challenged the following highly artificial arrangements:
• A cross-border scheme was marketed, involving hundreds of taxpayers and tens of millions of dollars in improper deductions and unreported income from retirement account withdrawals.
• Highly structured financing transactions created by financial institutions in which taxpayers generated inappropriate foreign tax credit benefits.
• Brokers provided made-to-order losses on futures and options transactions for individuals in other JITSIC jurisdictions, leading to a tax loss of more than $100,000,000.