Scott D. Michel

Scott D. Michel is a member of Caplin & Drysdale, has been at the firm since 1981, and currently serves as the firm's President.

Services

He advises and represents individuals and corporations nationwide in the following:

• Voluntary disclosures
• Advising U.S. citizens living abroad and foreign entities doing business in the U.S. about coming into tax compliance
• Sensitive civil tax examinations where fraud or substantial penalty issues may arise  
• Criminal tax fraud investigations
• Criminal and civil tax disputes with DC and various states
• Corporate internal investigations of tax and financial related matters
• Tax shelter matters, including criminal and civil penalty examinations of tax shelter promoters and professionals

Highlights

Mr. Michel is internationally recognized for his extensive experience in handling matters arising from the U.S. government's recent crackdown on undeclared foreign accounts, including criminal tax investigations, sensitive civil audits and voluntary disclosures. Such matters encompass a broad range of fact patterns, such as inherited accounts, situations that raise issues of complex undisclosed corporate or foundation structures, and unfiled Treasury "FBAR" forms. He is currently representing numerous clients worldwide in audits and investigations arising from IRS and Justice Department investigations involving UBS, HSBC and other banks, as well as voluntary disclosures throughout the U.S. involving dozens of foreign financial institutions throughout the world. 

Professional Activities

Mr. Michel has made frequent appearances throughout the U.S., and in Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vienna, Zurich and Geneva for presentations on enforcement regarding foreign accounts and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act to multiple law firms, bankers, and tax and financial advisors, including presentations before the National University of Singapore, the Tax Academy of Singapore, the Vienna University of Economics and Business, the Korean National Tax Service, Hong Kong University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Korea Chapter of the International Fiscal Association, and the Korean and the Swiss-American Chambers of Commerce. He is the co-chair of the ABA Section of Taxation's Annual Conference on International Tax Enforcement, and has also appeared at other programs held by the American Bar Association, The Tax Executives Institute (U.S. and foreign branches), The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Virginia, NYU, Tennessee and North Carolina Tax Institutes. He has also testified as an expert on offshore account enforcement before the Standing Committee on Finance of the Canada House of Commons.

Mr. Michel is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law Graduate Program in Taxation. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and currently serves as a Council Director for the ABA Section of Taxation. Mr. Michel previously chaired the Tax Section's Committee on Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties and the Standards of Tax Practice Committee.  He is a member of the Professional Tax Advisory Council for American Citizens Abroad, a non-profit, non-partisan volunteer association whose mission includes acting as a voice for Americans living overseas.  

He is also a co-founder and Director of Buildable Hours, Inc., a Washington, D.C. non-profit group that coordinates contributions and volunteer activities between law firms nationwide and local Habitat for Humanity organizations.

Recent Publications

Mr. Michel has written and lectured extensively on topics relating to criminal tax enforcement. He has also been quoted extensively in the media, including by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Miami Herald, FoxNews, ABC News, and press outlets in Switzerland, France, Germany and the UK. His more recent articles include*:

• Offshore Tax Evasion: US Initiatives, Practical Law Company (April 26, 2012)
• Offshore Tax Enforcement, Voluntary Disclosure, and Undeclared Foreign Accounts, ALI-ABA Estate Planning Course Materials Journal (December, 2011)
• OVDI is Over: What's Next for Voluntary Disclosures?, Tax Notes (October 17, 2011)
• Unreported Gifts of Real Property: Time for a Voluntary Disclosure?, Tax Notes (August 1, 2011)
• Recent Developments Relating to FBARs and Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, Caplin & Drysdale International Tax Alert (June 6, 2011) 
• IRS's Voluntary Disclosure Program for Offshore Accounts: A Critical Assessment After One Year, BNA Insights (September 21, 2010)
• Undeclared Foreign Accounts—Voluntary Disclosures and FBARs After the IRS Settlement Initiative, Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure (December 2009 – January 2010)
• Voluntary Disclosure Becomes a Necessity, International Tax Review (May 2008)  
• Tax Crimes: Has the Bright Line Moved?, Law Journal Newsletters (with Justin A. Thornton, February 2008) 
• Criminal Tax Investigations and Current Year Returns: New Thoughts on a Perennial Issue, Andrews Litigation Reporter (v. 19, issue 3, December 2004) 
• Corporate Tax Departments and the New Focus on Corporate Criminality, The Tax Executive (November-December 2003) 
• Advising A Client With Secret Offshore Accounts - Current Filing And Reporting Problems, Journal of Taxation (September 1999) 

*For a comprehensive selection of Mr. Michel's publications, please click here. For a list of his media mentions (including the latest developments in the UBS settlement issue), please click here.