Sam Wyly and his brother Charles Wyly have been found guilty of tax fraud and are subject to potentially serious penalties. Sam Wyly is a former billionaire who is now in bankruptcy court. During his bankruptcy court proceedings held in May, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge found that the two brothers had intentionally tried to evade taxes through the use of a complex and elaborate offshore non-grantor trust structure.

Employers are required to withhold employment taxes from the paychecks of employees who work for them. Employers must file regular reports and pay the taxes that are due. In some cases, however, employers fail to fulfill withholding obligations and fail to make reports and payments on time. Employers beware: The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice is now teaming up to crackdown on failure to comply with employment tax rules.

Mossack Fonseca is a law firm in Panama whose massive database of client records was recently leaked. The leak, referred to as The Panama Papers, revealed tax evasion and money laundering on a global scale. The Panama Papers included the names and information of high-profile politicians and wealthy individuals from countries all over the world. The leak provided an unprecedented glimpse into the inner workings of law firms, banks and investors with offshore accounts. 

Recently, eleven million documents were released without authorization in a leak being referred to as the Panama Papers. The documents came from one of the most secretive companies in the world -- a Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca.  The leaked documents provide a comprehensive paper trail showing how tax havens have been used to hide wealth and avoid tax liability. The documents involve clients from throughout the world who used offshore tax havens, including many current or former heads of state, as well as at least 60 people who have strong ties to current or former world leaders.