IRS: 14,700 US Taxpayers Voluntarily Disclose Foreign Bank Accounts

[babylonsister]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091117-708110.html

IRS: 14,700 US Taxpayers Voluntarily Disclose Foreign Bank Accounts

By Brent Kendall
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--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.

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

The voluntary program ended last month.

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

Shulman said the 14,700 taxpayers who confessed their transgressions held foreign accounts at a variety of banks in more than 70 countries.

Shulman said the IRS didn't yet know exactly how many of those taxpayers held bank accounts at UBS.

He said the fruits of the IRS voluntary disclosure program didn't affect UBS' obligation under an August legal settlement to reveal the identities of approximately 4,450 of its American clients who are suspected of cheating on their taxes.

[change_notfinetuning]

1. And the "reduced penalties" were how much? I doubt it was like a library

amnesty, amounting to a few dollars. These tax dodgers were on the hook for thousands, if not more. The details please? Even if they don't owe, what amounts were waived?

When the head of the IRS is a tax cheat, who is surprised by this bone thrown to the rich?

I'm looking for change. Has anyone seen my magnifying glass?

[tridim]

2. Now collect the back-taxes retroactively.