Subject: American Community Security Update - May 2003 Welcome to the May newsletter! Here are the topics for this month: -- Security Situation -- Upcoming Holidays -- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) In Asia -- Characteristics of SARS -- SARS Information for Singapore Travelers -- SARS-Related Information from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing -- Guidance for Travelers Arriving in the US From China, Vietnam, and Singapore -- Travel Warning for Vietnam -- Other Nations' Travel Advice for the U.S. -- U.S. Federal Tax Preparation Help in the Tokyo area -- IRS Warns of 12 Common Tax Scams -- Unsubscribing from this List --------------------------------------------------------- Security Situation --------------------------------------------------------- The security situation in Japan remains the same with no new threat information reported from either the American or the Japanese side other than the April 21, 2003 Worldwide Caution Public Announcement we distributed via this channel (you can always read the most current information online at http://travel.state.gov). The latest SARS Update from the Department of State is dated April 24, 2002 and is also available at http://travel.state.gov. --------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Holidays --------------------------------------------------------- The Embassy will be closed on May 5 for (Japanese) Children's Day and on May 26 for (U.S.) Memorial Day. We will otherwise be open our regular hours during "Golden Week." A full list of all of our holiday closings for 2003 is online at: http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwhholidays.html As a reminder, workdays just before and just after a holiday are usually very busy times, so if you do come in to see us then your wait will likely be longer than on other days. Monday mornings, Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons are our busiest times. Visit us outside of those times and you should have a shorter wait. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) In Asia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We encourage American Citizens traveling or residing abroad to familiarize themselves with information regarding SARS. American Citizens should regularly consult: -- the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/ -- the WHO website http://www.who.int/ -- the Department of State Consular Affairs website http://travel.state.gov -- Our Embassy website at http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwhacs-sars.html -- The American Embassy in Beijing has a useful FAQ on SARS at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/us-citizen/041103faq.html --------------------------------------------------------- Characteristics of SARS --------------------------------------------------------- The CDC has identified the following three criteria, which must ALL be present, by which a potential SARS case may be identified, for those with the onset of illness after February 1, 2003: --Fever greater than 38C (100.4F), AND --One or more signs or symptoms of respiratory illness including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood), x-ray findings of pneumonia, or respiratory distress, after 2 to 7 days, SARS patients may develop a dry cough and have trouble breathing AND -- One or more of the following within 2-7 days of the onset of symptoms: Travel to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Vietnam; and/or close contact, with a person who has been infected with SARS (close contact means having cared for, lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions (such as coughs and sneezes) and body fluids of a person with SARS). The incubation period between exposure to infection and the development of symptoms appears to range from 2-7 days. Currently, prevention of new cases is based on individuals avoiding close contact with SARS-infected persons. If you suspect that you meet all three of the above criteria, you should see a doctor immediately. To date, there is no antibody test for SARS. People who are suspected of having caught the virus are given a blood test to determine if there is a presence of an inflammatory disease. Depending on the symptoms of the patient, a chest X-ray may then be performed. Not all medical care providers in Japan can provide care for SARS. For a full list of providers, broken down by region in Japan, please visit our web site at: http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwhacs-sars.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARS Information for Singapore Travelers (as of April 29, 2003) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to existing screening of passengers arriving to Singapore by air or sea, Singapore is now screening all departing air passengers and incoming and departing travelers at the two land crossing points with Malaysia. Singapore is using thermal imagers to detect passengers with fevers, who are separated for additional health checks by medical staff. Air India recently announced that it would cut weekly flights to Singapore from fourteen to ten. United Airlines had already stopped its service from Singapore to Hong Kong from April 14 to June 02, but still flies to Singapore via Tokyo. Northwest Airlines also continues to service Singapore via Tokyo. Singapore Airlines reports no cut in flight services since April 14, when it reduced capacity by almost 20 percent. Operators of bus and rail services between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia have also reduced the frequency of their services, citing slacking demand. The U.S. Embassy in Singapore has learned that the Embassy of Myanmar in Singapore has temporarily suspended visa operations. Since the vast majority of travelers to Burma need a visa, this decision effectively prevents travel to Burma from Singapore. To subscribe to the free email list for American Citizen Announcements from our Embassy in Singapore, please visit http://singapore.usembassy.gov/consular/amcit/announcements.shtml -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARS-Related Information from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following message was provided to employees of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. "A number of employees have expressed concern about the timing of their return to the United States. Their concern is related to possible SARS quarantine regulations that may impact individuals entering the United States from China. "At this time, the United States' Centers for Disease Control guidelines state that 'persons returning from one of the affected areas should monitor their health for ten days.' "Should a person have been exposed to a SARS patient, the CDC guidelines continue: 'Persons who may have been exposed to SARS and who develop fever or respiratory symptoms should limit interactions outside the home and should not go to work, school, out-of-home child care, or other public areas until ten days after resolution of fever and respiratory symptoms. During this time, infection control precautions should be used to minimize the potential for transmission. At this time, in the absence of fever or respiratory symptoms, persons who may have been exposed to SARS patients need not limit their activities outside the home and should not be excluded from school or work.' "On the basis of these guidelines, there is, at present, no requirement for quarantine simply on the basis that an individual is entering or returning to the United States from China." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CDC Guidance for International Travelers Arriving in the United States From China, Vietnam, and Singapore ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers the following advice on its web site (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/travel_alert.htm) for persons traveling FROM a SARS area to the United States: "TO THE TRAVELER: During your recent travel, you may have been exposed to cases of severe acute respiratory disease syndrome (SARS). You should monitor your health for at least 10 days. If you become ill with fever, cough, or difficulty in breathing, you should consult a physician. In advance of your visit to the physician, tell him or her about your recent travel to these regions and whether you were in contact with someone who had these symptoms." For friends and co-workers traveling to the U.S., the CDC web site offers SARS travel advice in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and other languages at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/travel_alert_trans.htm. --------------------------------------------------- Travel Warning for Vietnam --------------------------------------------------- April 24, 2003 This Travel Warning is being updated to inform U.S. citizens to the Department of State's continued concerns about the presence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS like symptoms in Vietnam. The Department of State has now authorized the departure, on a voluntary basis, of non-emergency personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. Family members of Embassy and Consulate General staff had earlier been given this option, and the suspension of non-essential official travel to Vietnam remains in effect. These decisions are based on the lack of adequate medical care and facilities, as well as the difficulty of securing commercial medical evacuation for SARS patients. The Department of State continues to recommend U.S. citizens defer non-essential travel to Vietnam and that U.S. citizens in Vietnam consider departing. This supersedes the March 22, 2003, Travel Warning. Although the Department of State has recommended that arrangements be made for prompt medical evacuation of individuals diagnosed with SARS, medical evacuation of SARS patients remains problematic. Securing transport and locating a destination willing to accept such patients is difficult, if not impossible. Even if a willing air carrier and host destination are found, the cost would be prohibitive. Since medical evacuation possibilities may change, family members of SARS patients may wish to consult with the nearest U.S. Embassy/Consulate General for the latest information. SARS has dramatically diminished the level of medical services in Hanoi. Hanoi's only adequate hospital facility has closed and Hanoi's two main outpatient facilities have reduced their operations. Even non-lethal medical conditions are difficult to address because clinics are making initial assessments by phone or screening patients outside the clinic facilities. Until medical services return to normal, it is recommended that all U.S. citizens traveling defer non-essential travel to Vietnam. Because of these continuing concerns about the presence of SARS in Vietnam, the Department of State now authorizes non-emergency employees of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City to depart voluntarily from Vietnam; previously only family members had been given the option to depart. For the most up-to-date information regarding SARS, U.S. citizens are advised to monitor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, http://www.cdc.gov, and the World Health Organization's website, http://www.who.int/ith. Both the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City remain open to provide the full range of services to U.S. citizens and the general public. The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi is located at 6 Ngoc Khanh, Ba Dinh District, telephone number (84-4) 831-4590; after hours emergency telephone number (84-4) 772-1500; fax (84-4) 831-4578. Additional information may be found on the Embassy website at http://usembassy.state.gov.vietnam/. The U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City is located at 4 Le Duan, District 1, telephone (84-8) 822-9433; fax (84-8) 822-9434; website http://www.uscongenhcmc.org. For further information on travel to Vietnam, U.S. citizens should also consult the Department of State's Consular Information Sheet for Vietnam and the Public Announcement on SARS, both of which are located at http://travel.state.gov. --------------------------------------------------- Airlines' Plan to Fight SARS --------------------------------------------------- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) stated in a press release that they gathered the world's airlines with the WHO in Bangkok on April 23 to refine battle plans in the war on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). "The impact of SARS on the global air transport has been devastating," said Kevin Dobby, IATA's Corporate Secretary who heads the association's SARS Task Force. "The industry is completely engaged with the WHO and will do whatever is necessary to fight the spread of SARS. This is our number one priority." The meeting heard some encouraging news from the WHO. "We were told by WHO that SARS is transmitted by droplets through close person to person contact and not through the air. We were also reassured that the disease is communicable only after symptoms of the disease appear. As a result the WHO reassured the industry that the screening procedures for passengers being implemented at airports are effective. As evidence, of the 200 million travelers who have boarded aircraft since the beginning of this crisis, there have bee less than 5 cases of possible transmission in the cabin-and these were on flights that occurred before screening procedures were put in place," explained Dobby. "As we see screening procedures intensifying around the world with questioning of passengers and body temperature checks it is clear that air travel is being made even safer." The analogy was drawn to how the industry deals with security. "It is the same principle as our approach to fighting terrorism. If we can stop people with symptoms of SARS from boarding we are maintaining a safe environment for passengers and stopping the geographic spread of the disease at the same time," noted Dobby. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has set up a SARS operations center in Singapore to help coordinate regional measures to stem the spread of SARS by air travelers. The center intends to work with governments and airlines to facilitate implementation of safety measures at the region's airports, in an effort to help governments coordinate policies and avoid conflicting requirements. IATA officials said that they had been working with the World Health Organization on transportation related aspects of SARS, and that they are currently focusing on pre-departure screening of all air passengers. --------------------------------------------------- Other Nations' Travel Advice for the U.S. --------------------------------------------------- The Department of State publishes travel advice for every country and region in the world, all available online at http://travel.state.gov. It is also interesting to see what other countries advise their citizens when traveling to the U.S.: Australia: http://www.dfat.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/United_States_of_America UK: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618385531 or http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590 and choose United States Canada: http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/intro-en.asp --------------------------------------------------- U.S. Federal Tax Preparation Help --------------------------------------------------- As a convenience, we have on our web site a list of tax preparers in the Tokyo area. Our purpose is imply to present to you a list of names and contact information to aid in your own careful search for the right person to assist you with your tax needs. The American Embassy does not recommend or endorse these preparers, and assumes no responsibility for the professional ability or integrity of the persons or firms whose names appear in the list. See the full list at http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwhacs-tax2.html Contact information, forms and other information from the IRS is also available online, here http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwhacs-7126b.html --------------------------------------------------- IRS Warns of 12 Common Tax Scams --------------------------------------------------- The IRS urges people to avoid these common schemes: Offshore Transactions Some people use offshore transactions to avoid paying United States income tax. Use of an offshore credit card, trust or other arrangement to hide or underreport income or to claim false deductions on a federal tax return is illegal. Identity Theft Identity thieves use someone's personal data to steal his or her financial accounts, run up charges on the victim's existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim's name and even file fraudulent tax returns. The IRS is aware of at least two recent identity theft scams involving taxes or the IRS. In one, tax preparers allegedly used information, such as Social Security numbers and financial information, from their clients' tax returns to commit identity theft. In another, fraudsters sent bank customers fictitious bank correspondence and IRS forms in an attempt to trick them into disclosing their personal and banking data. For taxpayers, it pays to be choosy about disclosing personal and financial information. And the IRS encourages taxpayers to carefully select a reputable tax professional. Phony Tax Payment Checks. In this scheme, con artists sell fictitious financial instruments that look like checks to pay a tax liability, mortgage and other debts. The con artists may also counsel their clients to use a phony check to overpay their taxes so they can receive a refund from the IRS for the overpayment. The false checks, called sight drafts, are worthless and have no financial value. It is illegal to use these sight drafts to pay a tax liability or other debts. African-Americans Get a Special Tax Refund Thousands of African-Americans have been misled by people offering to file for tax credits or refunds related to reparations for slavery. There is no such provision in the tax law. Some unscrupulous promoters have encouraged clients to pay them to prepare a claim for this refund. But the claims are a waste of money. Promoters of reparations tax schemes have been convicted and imprisoned. Taxpayers could face a $500 penalty for filing such claims if they do not withdraw the claim. In early 2002, the slavery reparations scam ranked as the No. 1 scheme on the Dirty Dozen list. Following a sweeping public outreach campaign and assistance from members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other organizations, the number of reparation scam claims fell sharply. Tens of thousands of claims were received in 2001, but the claims fell to less than 50 per week in 2002. No Taxes Withheld From Wages Illegal schemes are being promoted that instruct employers not to withhold federal income tax or employment taxes from wages paid to their employees. These schemes are based on an incorrect interpretation of tax law and have been refuted in court. A recent flurry of court actions has been taken against promoters of these schemes. Improper Home-Based Business This scheme purports to offer tax "relief" but in reality is illegal tax avoidance. The promoters of this scheme claim that individual taxpayers can deduct most, or all, of their personal expenses as business expenses by setting up a bogus home-based business. But the tax code firmly establishes that a clear business purpose and profit motive must exist in order to generate and claim allowable business expenses. Pay the Tax, Then Get the Prize The caller says you've won a prize, and all you have to do to get it is to pay the income tax due. Don't believe it. Someone who really wins a prize may need to make an estimated tax payment to cover the taxes that will be due at the end of the year. But the payment goes to the IRS - not the caller. Whether the prize is cash, a car or a trip, a legitimate prize giver generally sends both the winner and the IRS a Form 1099 showing the total prize value that should be reported on the winner's tax return. Frivolous Arguments Frivolous arguments are false arguments that are unsupported by law. When a scheme promoter says "I don't pay taxes - why should you" or urges you to "untax yourself for $49.95," beware. These scams are as old as snake oil, but people continue to be taken in. And now they're on the Internet. The ads may say that paying taxes is "voluntary," but that's just plain wrong. The U.S. courts have continuously rejected this and other frivolous arguments. Unfortunately, hundreds of people across the country have paid for the "secret" of not paying taxes or have bought "untax packages." Then they find out that following the advice contained in them can result in civil and/or criminal penalties. Numerous sellers of the bogus schemes have been convicted on criminal tax charges. Social Security Tax Scheme. Taxpayers shouldn't fall victim to a scam offering refunds of the Social Security taxes they have paid during their lifetimes. The scam works by the victim paying a "paperwork" fee of $100, plus a percentage of any refund received, to file a refund claim with the IRS. This hoax fleeces the victims for the up-front fee. The law does not allow such a refund of Social Security taxes paid. The IRS processing centers are alert to this hoax and have been stopping the false claims. "I Can Get You a Big Refund ...for a Fee!" Refund scheme operators may approach someone wanting to "borrow" their Social Security number or give him or her a phony W-2 so it appears that the person qualifies for a big refund. They may promise to split the refund with that person, but the IRS catches most of these false refund claims before they go out. And when one does go out, the participant usually ends up paying back the refund along with stiff penalties and interest. Two lessons to remember: 1) Anyone who promises someone a bigger refund without knowing their tax situation could be misleading them, and 2) Never sign a tax return without looking it over to make sure it's honest and correct. Share/Borrow EITC Dependents Unscrupulous tax preparers "share" one client's qualifying children with another client in order to allow both clients to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit. For example, one client may have four children but only needs to list two to get the maximum EITC. The preparer will list two children on the first client's return and the other two on another client's tax return. The preparer and the client "selling" the dependents split a fee. The IRS prosecutes the preparers of such fraudulent claims, and participating taxpayers could be subject to civil penalties. IRS "Agent" Comes To Your House To Collect First, do not let anyone into your home unless they identify themselves to your satisfaction. IRS special agents, field auditors and collection officers carry picture IDs and will normally try to contact you before they visit. If you think the person on your doorstep is an impostor, lock your door and call the local police --------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribing from this List --------------------------------------------------- We make every attempt to include in our newsletter information of real value. We know that should world events dictate, we can use this email channel to get important information to you, as we did in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. That said, if you are leaving Japan or otherwise wish to unsubscribe from this list, please write from the same email address you used to subscribe, and send a blank email to: leave-tokyoacs@mh.databack.com