It is now summer time and many of us are planning trips to the beach to relax. As we outlined in last month's TPAtlanta Publisher's Column, not all trips to offshore locations are made with such benign intentions. It is within the boundaries of many of the Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs) where newfound tax avoidance strategies are birthed.

We will continue to explore how well-heeled individuals are using these OFCs to manipulate the tax laws to their favor in this month's column.

Perhaps I am one of the few in our community here who is old enough to remember The Beatles' Revolver album when it was originally released in 1966. But I am sure the lyrics of Taxman still resonate with each of us over 40 years later.

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Calvin D. Johnson, Publisher
publisher@tpatlanta.com
Trans Atlantic Systems, Inc.

Prepaid cards come in a variety of types. The most common is gift cards. Gift cards come in both an open loop (network branded such as Visa, MasterCard or Discover) or closed loop (store branded such as Home Depot, Starbucks or The Limited). Gift cards are seemingly sold everywhere today. In the last few years you have seen them pop up in your local supermarket and drug store on what is referred to as a "Gift Card Mall". The store display is usually located near the check out aisle and the cards hang on "j hooks" so that they are easy to buy by the consumer. Network branded gift cards are usually pre-denominated for $25, $50 or $100 whereas closed loop prepaid cards are not. Store gift cards are redeemable only at the stores whose name is on the card, and network branded cards are usable at any store that carries that brand.

Payroll cards have emerged as the latest "hot" prepaid product.
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