14,700 declare foreign accounts under U.S. tax amnesty: officials

The rush of voluntary disclosures came in response to an offer made earlier this year by U.S. 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 U.S. customers of UBS resulting from the bank's disclosures, “and is conducting investigations of dozens of other UBS customers.”

The aggressive moves by U.S. 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 US$780 million. 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 U.S. clients of UBS with more than 250,000 Swiss francs (165,000 euros, US$246,000) in assets could have their details turned over to U.S. tax authorities if there was proof of fraud.

For those who have simply not disclosed their accounts, their records would only be provided to U.S. tax authorities if the account held more than one million francs at any time between 2001 and 2008, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said.

Switzerland may also provide details on undeclared accounts that generated more than 100,000 francs every year over a period of three years, it added, publishing details of a deal between Washington and Bern.

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