Legal News

If a Scared Swiss Bank Account Client Calls, Click Here

By Jamie Heller

More news on the unfolding Swiss bank account saga: A federal judge has authorized the IRS to request information from UBS about U.S. taxpayers who may have bank accounts there to evade federal income taxes. Not a shock, considering that the DOJ had asked for a federal court order on Monday. And it also doesn’t mean the feds will get names that they’re looking for. As Evan Perez wrote in today’s WSJ, UBS is finding itself in a bind between U.S. tax authorities and a Swiss law that prevents banks from disclosing confidential information without client approval.

Now down to the lawyer level. What if your client is one of these people? The Journal’s Tom Herman had this piece in May, titled “Offshore-Account Holders Bite Their Nails.” He wrote:

Lawyers advising tax dodgers are saying their clients are struggling to decide among several alternatives. They can confess and plead for mercy. They can quietly file amended tax returns, pay up, make other required disclosures and hope overworked government prosecutors won’t follow up. Or they could choose to do nothing and pray their names won’t turn up.

The piece has plenty of specifics.

LB’ers: Feel free to share your own advice!

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 01, 2008 (boomark / email).