U.S. Tax Avoiders Confess to IRS in Wake of UBS Pacts

By BRENT KENDALL And ANITA GREIL
WSJ

More than 14,700 U.S. taxpayers took advantage of a special U.S. Internal Revenue Service amnesty program that offered reduced penalties to those who voluntarily revealed their previously undisclosed offshore bank accounts, the IRS and U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Delinquent taxpayers came forward in droves after U.S. tax authorities reached two landmark settlements with UBS AG in which the Swiss bank agreed to reveal the identities of some of its American clients who are suspected of evading U.S. taxes. The voluntary program ended last month.

"We were flooded with people coming in during the final days of the program," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said.

Mr. Shulman said the 14,700 taxpayers who confessed their transgressions held foreign accounts at a variety of banks in more than 70 countries. He said the IRS didn't yet know exactly how many of those taxpayers held bank accounts at UBS.

(Continued here. Here's the WashPost's take on it:)

IRS unveils criteria for Swiss bank account disclosures

By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 10:08 AM

If you had less than $248,200 (250,000 Swiss francs) in your secret account at Switzerland's largest bank, or if it generated less than $99,280 (100,000 Swiss francs) in annual revenue, you can breathe easier.

A landmark deal that the U.S. and Swiss governments struck in August to expose American tax dodgers does not call for the Swiss to blow your cover.

On the other hand, if you had more than $992,802 (1 million Swiss francs) in your account at any time from 2001 through 2008 and you failed to disclose it to the Internal Revenue Service, don't count on Switzerland's legendary tradition of bank secrecy to protect you any longer. It may be just a matter of time before your account details are in the hands of U.S. tax collectors and federal prosecutors.

(Original here.)

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