Campaign Helps Put Brakes On Offshore Tax Haven Crackdown

The efforts of the 30-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to reform "tax haven" countries such as Liechtenstein and the Cayman Islands are being countered in the U.S. by a lobbying campaign run by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. Capitol Hill veteran Andrew Quinlan, who also works for the Swiss Investors Protection Association, heads the Center. According to the Wall Street Journal, Quinlan and "his coalition of antitax activists and attorneys for foreign banks are pressuring the Bush administration to back away from the OECD efforts, which the Clinton administration had backed strongly." The IRS estimates it loses $70 billion annually from Americans with offshore accounts. The WSJ reports that not surprisingly Quinlan will not disclose who funds the lobbying effort.