Tax Help For Offshore Account Holders as Swiss Government Seeks to Salvage UBS Agreement
Taxpayers with foreign bank accounts must stay on top of the game when it comes to paying taxes and disclosing foreign funds.
If you have undisclosed foreign funds or if you have accumulated back taxes on your overseas money, now is the time to seek tax help from a tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist to resolve your IRS problems before they become any worse.
Due to the severe nature of offshore tax evasion charges, it is advisable for you to hire a special offshore tax evasion defense division for expert tax help in order to maximize your chances of winning an affordable IRS installment agreement or penalty abatement.
It is no longer safe to believe that the Swiss government will protect your secrecy. This latest report shows how the Swiss government is continuing to cooperate with the IRS rather than to hide the identities of wealthy tax evaders.
CCH (http://intelliconnect.cch.com) reports:
Swiss Seek to Salvage UBS Agreement; IRS Expects Continued Cooperation
Switzerland’s executive body, the Swiss Federal Council, announced on January 27 that it intends to salvage its landmark 2009 agreement with the U.S. to expose alleged tax evasion by U.S. nationals. The agreement cracked open Switzerland’s long history of bank secrecy by requiring one of its largest banks, UBS AG, to disclose account holder information to the U.S. Court Setback.
In a January 21 ruling, made public on January 22, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court found that the 2009 agreement exceed the scope of the U.S.-Switzerland tax treaty. The court held that the agreement permitted no change to terms that had been given binding definitions in the treaty, particularly the definition of “tax fraud or the like,” which does not encompass “any serious tax offenses in the sense of the continued evasion of large sums of tax.”
Fewer Disclosures
The 2009 agreement anticipated that information would be shared involving 4,450 accounts at UBS. “It is thought that treaty assistance will be ruled out in around 4,200 cases,” the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement. “Only in around 250 cases may information be exchanged with the U.S.,” the Swiss Federal Council noted.
Under the 2009 agreement, UBS provides account information to the SFTA, which, in turn, decides if the account meets the criteria for disclosure to the U.S. According to published reports, the U.S. has received information on fewer than 10 accounts. CCH asked the IRS to confirm this number but a spokesperson for the Service declined to comment.
The IRS spokesperson did, however, reiterate the Service’s earlier comments that it expects continued cooperation from Switzerland. “The U.S. has an agreement with the Swiss government to produce information in U.S. accountholders at UBS. We expect the Swiss government to continue to honor the terms of the agreement,” the spokesperson told CCH.
Possible Remedy
The Swiss Federal Council may present the 2009 agreement to the Swiss parliament for approval. “The agreement would stand as a treaty of the same status as the older and more general bilateral double taxation agreement and, according to general rules of interpretation, would take precedence over the latter,” the Swiss Federal Council explained. The Swiss Federal Council added that it “firmly believes that the ongoing threat of a conflict with the U.S. can be eliminated for good only by executing the agreement.”
By George L. Yaksick, Jr., CCH News Staff
We have seen how aggressive the IRS has worked together with the Swiss government to reveal more than 4,000 names of tax evaders in the past few months–it would be a mistake to believe that this is all over. If you are in IRS trouble for overseas tax evasion, you can get tax help now in order to resolve your taxes and penalties.
Tax Resolution Services’ Offshore Banking and FBAR Defense Division is headed by the nation’s leading offshore tax evasion defense experts. Don’t wait another day, get tax help today to be rid of your IRS problems!
Call Tax Resolution Services’ team of expert tax attorneys, CPAs, and Certified Tax Resolution Specialists today at 1-866-477-7762 for a free tax resolution consultation or visit www.taxresolution.com
More Tax Help, IRS News and Tax Relief Tips:
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- Tax Help Options For Overseas Tax Evasion as UBS Pushes For Swiss-US Deal
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