November 13, 2018
Offshore art purchaser, Porsal Equities Ltd., will pay $10.75 million to settle claims for tax fraud and for violation of the New York False Claims Act. Between 2010 and 2015 Porsal Equities Ltd., a company based in the British Virgin Islands, finagled their way out of paying sales tax on over $50 million in artwork and other goods purchased in New York. They fraudulently claimed that they were exempt from paying sales tax because the art was purchased for resale. The truth is that the art was purchased for personal use and for display in the New York City apartments of the company’s sole director. Furthermore, despite the notice which the director received from a tax authority, Porsal Equities failed to pay use tax on art they purchased outside of New York which was shipped into New York for personal use in the apartments belonging to the director. Porsal Equities did admit their violations in the settlement agreement. The company also agreed to report and file use tax returns for any artwork used in the state. NY AG