Accountholders of secret Swiss bank accounts that failed to pay the appropriate taxes on their money were offered a limited-amnesty deal by the government so that they would come forward. However, the amnesty period has now ended, meaning that the accountholders that come forward now will face an increased chance of criminal prosecution.
More than 7,500 accountholders came forward to take advantage of the more lenient terms. Those that still want to turn themselves in, though, can still go through one of the IRS’s longstanding programs in order to do so. In fact, officials do not expect the end of the …read more

Contrary to what several people have claimed following the unveiling of a deal between the IRS and Swiss tax haven UBS, the bank has released a report stating that the American accountholders in UBS were certainly “not just harmless victims.” In actuality, UBS has stated that its accountholders were well aware of what they were perpetrating.
 
UBS also stated that any legal cases brought on against any of its bankers has not and will not affect the bank in any way. Switzerland has long held its bank secrecy as one of the crown jewels of its economic system, but the acceptance …read more

While only a small proportion of the U.S. population has actually been suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to avoid paying significant sums of tax to the government, the days may be numbered for this dubious practice. That is because the United States and prominent Swiss bank UBS AG have reached an agreement that will expose secret account holders and deter any future secret accounts. 
 
Although the details of the deal have not yet been made public, many experts believe that the deal will involve the Swiss bank disclosing the names of the illicit accountholders in a way that does not …read more