In a move designed to remind people of their duty to report offshore bank accounts and file Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBARs), federal prosecutors are beginning another wave of UBS tax evasion prosecutions just ahead of the April 15 tax-filing deadline. This newest wave reportedly includes accounts significantly larger than in previous cases. One tax lawyer has been quoted as saying that his client’s Swiss bank account held between $10 and $50 million.
In a separate announcement on Monday, April 5th, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the IRS is still sifting through 15,000 records on foreign bank accounts that it received from individuals who took part in the IRS tax amnesty program. The IRS is looking for patterns in the records to identify other offshore banks and advisors that helped individuals hide funds in foreign financial accounts, and may have committed tax fraud. That area will be “the next wave” of the investigation, according to Shulman. Some tax attorneys have speculated that HSBC and Credit Suisse are the next ones on the IRS hit list.
Although the IRS tax amnesty program for unreported offshore income ended in October, it is not too late to make a voluntary disclosure of your offshore bank accounts, and possibly avoid criminal tax fraud charges. For more information contact the tax attorneys at Brager Tax Law Group, A P.C.