--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rf...@...> wrote:
>
> U.S.-Swiss Tax Deal Throws Scare into Rich Wealthy Americans with
> Offshore Accounts on Notice as Way Cleared for U.S. to Find Tax Evaders
>
[It would, however, be risky for a wealthy tax dodger to wait to see if the
government's stepped up efforts continue, said Boggs, the tax adviser. He said
his firm usually recommends a "strategic surrender" to the IRS.]
How is the TMorg sitting with this? Any indication?
> *
> [244]
>
>
> (AP) A deal with Switzerland settling U.S. demands for the names of
> suspected tax dodgers from a Swiss bank has a lot of wealthy Americans
> with offshore accounts nervously running to their tax advisers - and the
> Internal Revenue Service.
>
> "They are very frightened," said Richard Boggs, chief executive of
> Nationwide Tax Relief, a Los-Angeles-based tax firm that specializes in
> clients with tax debts exceeding $100,000. "You have the super rich who
> are not used to being pushed around and they are finding themselves in
> unfamiliar territory."
>
> The U.S. and Swiss governments announced a court settlement last week
> <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/12/business/main5236509.shtml>
> in efforts by the IRS <http://www.irs.gov/> to force Zurich-based UBS
> AG to turn over the names of some 52,000 Americans believed to be hiding
> nearly $15 billion in assets in secret accounts.
>
> Justice Department and UBS lawyers told a federal judge in Miami in a
> brief conference call Wednesday they had initialed a final deal. But
> they did not disclose any details, such as how many of the 52,000 names
> sought by the IRS will be revealed.
>
> Even before the settlement, the high-profile case - coupled with other
> U.S. efforts to go after Americans hiding undeclared assets - has scared
> hundreds of tax dodgers to turn themselves in. Boggs said his firm has
> been taking on 100 new cases a month, a big increase over previous
> years.
>
> Peter Zeidenberg, a litigation partner at the law firm DLA Piper in
> Washington, said he, too, is he seeing more people with undeclared
> assets seeking information about their legal options.
>
> His advice: "I don't think you have much of a choice but to come
> forward. ... I think the landscape is permanently changed."
>
> The IRS - the federal tax collection agency - long has had a policy that
> certain tax evaders who come forward before they are contacted by the
> agency usually can avoid jail time as long as they agree to pay back
> taxes, interest and hefty penalties. Drug dealers and money launderers
> need not apply. But if the money was earned legally, tax evaders can
> usually avoid criminal prosecution.
>
> In March, the IRS began a six-month amnesty program that sweetened the
> offer with reduced penalties for people with undeclared assets. IRS
> Commissioner Doug Shulman said the response has been unprecedented.
>
> Shulman would not say how many people have applied so far. But the IRS
> said 400 people applied to voluntarily disclose undeclared assets in a
> single week in July, compared with fewer than 100 applications all last
> year.
>
> The amnesty program, which ends Sept. 23, is part of a larger effort by
> federal authorities to crack down on international tax evaders.
>
> "Each time someone walks through the door with a disclosure, we get more
> information. We get more information about other people. We get more
> information about other financial institutions," Shulman said. "If
> people have been hiding assets in the past, they should be nervous, and
> they should be a lot more suspect about doing it in the future."
>
> The U.S. recently reached agreements with several countries, including
> Luxembourg and Switzerland, to share more tax information in the future,
> just as the IRS is strengthening its enforcement ranks.
>
> President Barack Obama, in his proposed 2010 budget, asked Congress to
> pay for 800 additional agents, examiners and lawyers to go after people
> who hide money overseas. Mr. Obama also wants Congress to require
> overseas financial institutions doing business in the U.S. to share more
> information with the IRS.
>
> Earlier this year, UBS admitted assisting U.S. citizens in evading taxes
> as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
> UBS agreed to disclose the names of about 300 American clients and pay a
> $780 million penalty. The IRS subsequently filed its case seeking the
> names of 52,000 additional U.S. taxpayers believed to be hiding assets
> in UBS accounts.
>
> So far, four UBS customers whose names were given to U.S. authorities
> under the prior agreement have made deals to plead guilty to tax charges
> in federal court.
>
> "The UBS case, the agreements we are signing, the legislative proposals
> and the enforcement efforts are all meant to send one message, which is
> that if you owe tax to the U.S., we are going to use every tool we have
> available to get that," said Michael Mundaca, acting assistant treasury
> secretary.
>
> Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, applauded the administration's
> efforts, but said more can be done to catch tax evaders. Levin has
> introduced a bill <http://tinyurl.com/oatqdt> that would direct the
> treasury secretary to maintain a list of nations that "impede U.S. tax
> enforcement" and give him authority to impose financial penalties
> against uncooperative countries.
>
> Levin's initial list of 34 countries and other jurisdictions would
> include Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hong Kong
> and Panama.
>
> "We should have put a clampdown on these tax havens a long time ago," he
> said in an interview.
>
> Raymond Baker of Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based group
> that advocates tougher policies against international money laundering,
> said he is encouraged by the administration's efforts. But he is not
> ready to call it a crackdown.
>
> "As we get past the UBS case, is the momentum for continuing to go after
> tax evaders going to be sustained?" Baker said. "I think it's too early
> to tell."
>
> It would, however, be risky for a wealthy tax dodger to wait to see if
> the government's stepped up efforts continue, said Boggs, the tax
> adviser. He said his firm usually recommends a "strategic surrender" to
> the IRS.
>
> "We basically are waving a white flag and telling the IRS that we have
> every intention of resolving this issue in the mutual best interest of
> the government and our client," Boggs said.
>
> "Historically, the best outcomes that we have been able to negotiate
> have always involved good faith from the taxpayer," he said. "And good
> faith means getting to the IRS before they get to you."
>
> http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/15/business/main5244128.shtml
>
