Tax evaders settle with the IRS
The long standing battle between the IRA and US tax payers who hid money in offshore banks is coming to a close. Says an IRS official, more than 14,700 tax payers have come forward voluntarily from more than 70 countries to disclose their offshore back accounts. The majority of people came forward just before the deadline expired on October 15, 2009.
Prior to the US crackdown on international tax evasion, less than a 100 people came forward each year to voluntarily reveal their finances. Now the broad US crackdown on international tax evasion at Swiss back UBS AG and other foreign banks had led to thousands of people coming forward.
Says commissioner of IRS, Doug Shulman, “To put it simply, this is a historic milestone for the nation’s hardworking taxpayers. The total sum in taxes and penalties resulting from this voluntary disclosure program will be in the “billions of dollars,”
Shulman said the arrangement of the UBS revelations and the amnesty program has essentially changed the offshore tax scene, predominantly in Switzerland where bank privacy was the custom for decades.
“It shows we are serious about piercing the veil of bank secrecy,” he said. “The whole game has changed.
The Swiss bank, UBS AG, has until the end of August to hand over more names of US tax payers. More names are expected to be released this week. The tax payers whose names are identified can appeal to the top Swiss administrative courts, but judging from how the Roman Polanski affair is being handled, these people do not stand much of a chance. The US government is in no mood to let tax payer’s getaway this time.