IRS expected to drop UBS lawsuit
Posted by AccountingWEB in Tax, Watchdog on 09/02/2010 - 12:41
Officials with the Internal Revenue Service last week said that the agency would drop its civil lawsuit against UBS following assurances from the Swiss government that it was in the process of delivering information on thousands of American clients suspected of using UBS accounts to evade U.S. taxes.
Nearly half of the 4,450 names have been handed over to U.S. officials thus far, according to reports.
Some clients selected in recent months still have time to appeal to the Swiss authorities to try to prevent disclosure of their information. Several hundred clients have filed such appeals, according to a report in The New York Times.
"UBS expects that implementation of the treaty will be completed in the coming weeks, although the exact date of completion is not yet defined," UBS officials said in a Reuters report. "Given the progress made so far in implementing the agreements between all parties involved, UBS remains confident that a final resolution of the U.S. case will be achieved in October."
The U.S.-Swiss accord sends a message to whoever is hiding income and assets offshore, according to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.
"I am very pleased that we have successfully concluded negotiations that will result in our receiving what we wanted all along from the beginning of our investigation into UBS," Shulman said in a statement last month. "We will be receiving an unprecedented amount of information on taxpayers who have evaded their tax obligation by hiding money offshore at UBS.
"The IRS will vigorously pursue tax cheats around the world, no matter how remote or secret the location. And we will work with other governments where possible to obtain the information we need. Wealthy Americans who have hidden their money offshore will find themselves in a jam," he said.
As of August 19, the IRS and the Department of Justice have successfully prosecuted four U.S. customers of UBS whose information was provided to the IRS by UBS as part of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, according to the agency.
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