Thursday, February 19, 2009

Wealthy Americans hid their money in Swiss accounts , paying NO taxes, worth Billions, Swiss Banks due to Release NAMES....


Huffpost has it all....I am sure that this story will unfold and take a few down....about time...52,000 Americans, atleast 19,000 to be named, and they OWE over 750 Billion in taxes....interesting number...( I wonder WHEN the Cayman Island Data will come out).

It is a bit mindblowing that the Previous SEC and JD let ALL of this happen on their watch....

4 comments:

enigma4ever said...

Update More this afternoon 2.19.09:::
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government sued UBS AG on Thursday, seeking disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service of thousands of the Swiss bank's U.S. customers with secret accounts, the Justice Department said.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami came the day after UBS agreed to pay $780 million and identify certain U.S. clients in a deal to resolve criminal fraud charges that it assisted rich Americans to evade taxes.

The action came after U.S. tax authorities said a request for the records under a Swiss treaty may only result in the production of records for about 300 accounts.

According to the lawsuit, as many as 52,000 U.S. customers hid their UBS accounts from the government in violation of tax laws, the department said.

The government said in the suit that of those 52,000 secret accounts, about 20,000 contained securities and about 32,000 contained cash. According to a UBS document filed with the lawsuit, as of the mid-2000s, those secret accounts held about $14.8 billion in assets.

According to court documents, U.S. citizens failed to report and pay U.S. income taxes on income earned in those secret accounts.

The lawsuit also alleged that UBS helped hundreds of U.S. taxpayers set up dummy offshore companies, to make it easier for those taxpayers to avoid their reporting obligations under U.S. tax laws.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said, "We are committed to moving forward with the summons enforcement process. This action sends a strong signal to taxpayers hiding their money offshore. The IRS will be aggressive in pursuing people who shirk their obligations under the tax law."

Ingrid said...

wehelll!! That'll help with all the bail outs. I wonder if some of those who came with their hands out are amongst those with Swiss bank accounts..
boy I've missed the news I tell ya,

keep yourself comfy and cozy in your wintry hobit town![s]

hugs

Ingrid

Fran said...

They need to pay back owed taxes, interest AND fines & fees.
So glad they are going after these cheaters.
I wonder if Halliburton, Cheney, the Bush family & Blackwater are amongst the scammers?
Can't wait to see the list!

D.K. Raed said...

You think any of the names released will include Bush & Cheney? BTW, UBS is not the only Swiss bank to give aggressive advice on how to keep income earned on swiss bank accounts non-taxable. But I do notice all their online advice ends with the caveat to consult with your own tax accountant about tax laws in your own country. In the US, income tax filers are supposed to reveal all foreign bank accounts and report interest earned on them and pay income tax on those earnings ... but of course we all know they don't and without cooperation from the Swiss banks, it is hard for the IRS to capture that information.