Posted on 08/19/2009 5:41:07 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Thousands of Americans who thought they had a secret Swiss bank account will have their names and account details given to the U.S. Internal Revenue Services under an agreement announced Wednesday among U.S. and Swiss authorities and the Swiss bank UBS.
The IRS said Americans would no longer be able to evade taxes so easily by hiding their assets in offshore accounts.
The agreement comes as U.S. tax authorities conduct a criminal investigation into Americans who used Swiss bank accounts at UBS AG to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
The settlement follows demands from the U.S. authorities that the bank hand over details on more than 50,000 customers. According to the settlement, U.S. tax authorities will gain access to 4,450 accounts of Americans who have accounts with UBS, and will drop a lawsuit against UBS in federal court demanding the names.
However, the agency expects to have access to hundreds of additional accounts through other agreements. An IRS official said the total number of names disclosed could be in the "high 5,000s."
"Wealthy Americans who have hidden their money offshore will find themselves in a jam," said IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman. "You can expect us to continue to be aggressive with institutions that are helping Americans avoid taxes."
U.S. authorities are building criminal tax-evasion cases against more than 150 Americans who held accounts with UBS. He added that the accounts considered as part of the settlement held over $18 billion at one point.
'The days of hiding an asset overseas are days that clearly are eroding.'
A U.S. citizen can choose to appeal the case in a Swiss administrative court. The UBS clients are expected to receive notices in the mail in the next few weeks.
It could take months for the information to come to the IRS, an agency official said.
However, Shulman pointed out that the settlement represented a major improvement in the U.S. government's ability to gain access to information about U.S. tax avoiders.
"We started the negotiations at a point when the Swiss government took the position that we could not get access to the information, so we felt we needed to go through a U.S. court process to proceed," Shulman said. "About a month ago that posture changed. The Swiss government came to us and said they wanted to negotiate. Now, the Swiss government has said they have every reason to believe we will get access to these accounts."
Anthony Sabino, professor of law and business at St. John's University in New York, said the agreement represents a "new era in international law enforcement," because for the first time the Swiss government is willing to bend their "ultra-secret" bank secrecy laws.
"If the Swiss government cooperates on UBS, it will cooperate on other Swiss banks," Sabino said. "The pressure has been building against the damn for years, and now you're going to see a flood of information coming out. It is a signal that as capital moves with light speed over national borders, tax agencies and other governmental authorities will not be far behind."
UBS Chairman Kaspar Villiger said in a statement that the settlement helps resolve one of the Swiss bank's most pressing issues.
"I am confident that the agreement will allow the bank to continue moving forward to rebuild its reputation through solid performance and client service," he said.
Hand over the information -- voluntarily
Shulman pointed out that U.S. citizens have until Sept. 23 to voluntarily disclose their tax-avoidance or face "stiffer civil or possible criminal" charges. He added that U.S. citizens with hidden UBS accounts can still voluntarily disclose their account information to U.S. tax authorities before the deadline even if they previously received a notice from the Swiss bank. He added that bank notices will be sent out in stages and many letters may not be received by account holders until after the Sept. 23 voluntary deadline.
"The IRS will receive a significant portion of the account information after the Sept. 23 cutoff," Shulman said.
The accounts have a variety of holdings including precious metals and other securities. Some are off-shore "sham trust accounts," Shulman said.
St. John's University's Sabino pointed out that the voluntary program gives the tax-avoiders amnesty if they agree to a program to pay the back taxes they owe the U.S. government. However, if the tax-avoiders do not voluntarily disclose the information they can face jail time.
"If you don't come clean, the IRS won't be interested in just money, though they'll take that," Sabino said. "They'll be interested in criminal prosecution."
He added that U.S. citizens with undeclared UBS accounts will be "burning up the phone lines" with their expensive tax and white collar crime attorneys.
"If they can figure out some sort of payment scheme with the IRS they'll do that rather than face the possibility of going to jail," Sabino said.
Shahzad Malik, a tax attorney at TroyGould in Los Angeles, said he believes many U.S. residents will start coming forward on their own.
"This is simply unprecedented for an apparent turn-over in names by a Swiss bank," Malik said. "We may see a massive number of U.S. people who will now come forward voluntarily and negotiate a deal before the IRS locates them."
UBS has already handed over details on about 250 customers and paid fines of $780 million. But it has also been facing a further demand from tax authorities that it provide details on 52,000 other U.S. clients who may have been involved in tax evasion.
More banks identified
Shulman said he would not divulge whether the IRS has other investigations open, but the agency is receiving a lot of leads from the agency disclosure program.
"The days of hiding an asset overseas are days that clearly are eroding," Shulman said.
As well as the investigations over UBS, wealthy American citizens who have come forward under a tax-evasion amnesty program have identified other Swiss and European banks where their accounts are held, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Among the banks named in the voluntary disclosures are Credit Suisse Group , Julius Baer Holding and Union Bancaire Privee, the report said.
The disclosures aren't a signal of wrongdoing -- merely that a U.S. citizen keeps money at these banks -- and also don't indicate that other banks mirrored UBS' activities, including creating complex structures to help clients evade taxes, the Journal reported.
Dad is handling those purchases ;-)
I bought silver. And rice, lots of rice.
I guess the Fascists have risen to power in Switzerland, too.
I can predict with 100% accuracy that these banks involved will no longer be big players on the world stage. Who will want to bank with them after this?
Also it would appear that the government will, in the not-too-distant future, begin to lose the confidence of the banking community. Turning their backs on a centuries-old tradition will not be met with a warm reception.
Is nothing sacred in these times?
CA....
The problem is United Bank of Switzerland (USB). They have a lot of toxic debt and also assets in the US. The US government has threatened in effect to seize their assets. So those ever discrete Swiss bankers are simply saving their own skins and telling their US clients to GGF. An old client of mine always called the Swiss the jackals of Europe. She absolutely detested the Swiss. Perhaps she was right after all.
Oh, just great! Between you and me, there’s going to be a gold-rush run on rolls of nickles now, LOL!
I want to see a list, so I can figure out how many are Democratic contributors.
http://www.ubs.com/1/e/media_overview/media_emea/search1/search10?newsId=59131
as I recall UBS never actually used it to trade energy....it just kind of dried up and blew away once the court allowed it to be “sold”, very very early into the bankruptcy for next to nothing but future royalties which amounted to nothing....
“I so dearly hopa hopa hopa that there are Dem’s in that group ... big important Dem’s ... Pelosi for one ....”
Do you honestly think that if they are we are going to hear about it?
I figure that the clintons have at least a couple of billion in numbered Swiss accounts, from their days in the governor’s mansion, Mena Airport, and the White House. What are the odds that any of it will come out?
LOL!
Shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone else.
You handle WI, I’ll handle MI.
Depends on what news service ... might hear it from some British paper or maybe, just maybe FOX? Certainly on Rush.
My thought was why these people did not opt for a smaller private bank in Switzerland.
Maybe not.
It’s illegal to melt them down
As of June 13, 2008, the value of the metal in a United States nickel coin reached $0.06013, an 20.3% premium over its face value.[7] This was due to the rising price of copper and nickel and the decline in value of the United States dollar.[8] In an attempt to avoid losing large quantities of circulating nickels to melting, the United States Mint introduced new interim rules on December 14, 2006 criminalizing the melting and export of cents and nickels. Violators of these rules can be punished with a fine of up to $10,000, five years imprisonment, or both.[9]
(from Wikipedia)
“Depends on what news service ... might hear it from some British paper or maybe, just maybe FOX? Certainly on Rush.”
And how are they going to find out?
I don’t think the Govt. will release the names. Unless they are well known conservatives or Republicans, of course.
I would bet the ranch that there will be cover ups for the “right” people by the IRS.
4 Swiss banks were specifically named. You are correct there, MSF.
As I have posted on this forum many times...
Lead is a hazardous material. It is highly recommended that any and all lead be encased in some other material, such as copper.
As it’s been said “the truth will out”.... hopefully ....
Somebodies did’nt donate quite enough to the “Bamamachine....
Im thinking the whole Clinton Crime Family, from Chelsea and Roger, to Hugh and Tony Rodham.
“I don’t see this country surviving more than a couple more years, We had a good run”
Okay, I guess we should all just suicide out now!
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