US issues warning against offshore bank account holders
US has issued stern warning to those having offshore bank accounts and evading paying their taxes in the country.
Encouraged by the success of its actions against those holding bank accounts in Switzerland and India to evade taxes, a senior Justice Department official had yesterday said that time is fast running out for such people as the US is expanding its operations against tax evaders.
According to a 2008 Senate report, the use of secret offshore accounts to evade US taxes costs the Treasury at least USD 100 billion annually.
The Justice Department's current offshore programme began in 2008, with the investigation of UBS, which resulted in the 2009 UBS deferred prosecution agreement.
Since 2008, it has charged a total of 30 banking professionals and 62 account holders, which have so far resulted in three convictions after trial and 55 guilty pleas, including 16 guilty pleas this year alone.
In January, 2013, the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York secured the guilty plea of Wegelin Bank, the oldest private bank in Switzerland, and the first foreign bank to plead guilty to felony tax charges.
In August 2012, Indian American Arvind Ahuja, a Wisconsin neurosurgeon who maintained an undeclared account at HSBC India, was convicted following a jury trial of filing a false 2009 income tax return and failing to file an FBAR.
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