Washington: More than 14,700 Americans with previously undisclosed offshore bank accounts have come forward to settle their back taxes after an amnesty offer, US officials said Tuesday.
The rush of voluntary disclosures came in response to an offer made earlier this year by US officials after they reached a settlement with Swiss banking giant UBS to reveal thousands of names of American clients.
Under the program, account owners were given a deadline to make a voluntary disclosure, enabling them to pay back taxes on the accounts with reduced civil penalties, and in most cases a guarantee against criminal prosecution.
The Justice Department said it has "successfully prosecuted" six US customers of UBS resulting from the bank's disclosures, "and is conducting investigations of dozens of other UBS customers."
Swiss to divulge details of US tax cheats
The aggressive moves by US officials in the case suggested authorities would be actively seeking to prosecute holders of offshore accounts at UBS, and other banks in Switzerland and around the world used as tax havens.
"The message to American taxpayers is clear: the era of bank secrecy and hidden assets is over," Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said in announcing the results with the Internal Revenue Service, the country's tax collector.
It was not clear how many of the account holders who came forward had accounts with UBS or other Swiss banks.
IRS officials said those coming forward had accounts in at least 70 countries, including in Asia, with a large diversity in the size of accounts.
The initial deadline for the amnesty was September 23, but officials extended that to October 15 after requests from some taxpayers seeking more time to gather necessary information.
In February UBS had accepted a "deferred prosecution agreement," admitting to efforts to help tax evasion and paid a fine of 780 million dollars. The agreement on disclosure of 4,450 customer names came in August, after long negotiations involving the two governments and the bank.
UBS had argued it could not disclose the name of clients without breaking Swiss bank secrecy law.
In Switzerland Tuesday, authorities announced that US clients of UBS with more than 250,000 Swiss francs (165,000 euros, 246,000 dollars) in assets could have their details turned over to US tax authorities if there was proof of fraud.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 11:30