Community | October 16, 2009 | 15 comments

US tax amnesty nets 7,500 tax dodgers

source: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front.html?siteSect=105&ty=st&ref=fb&sid=11359365

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WakeUpPeople
A United States tax amnesty, part of a campaign to crack down on perceived tax havens such as Switzerland, has netted 7,500 repentant tax dodgers.
An investigation into UBS, that found that the Swiss bank had helped US citizens evade tax, helped fuel a crusade to weed out cheats who were using offshore accounts to hide undeclared assets.

The amnesty, that ended on October 15, offered reduced punishments for those who voluntarily declared their guilt. Culprits will pay a fine between five and 20 per cent of their stashed assets as opposed to a 50 per cent levy and a possible prison sentence faced by those who did not come forward.

The IRS even extended the amnesty for a month to help tax lawyers cope with a deluge of worried clients who wanted to come forward.

It is not yet clear how many of the 7,500 had accounts in Switzerland. But Doug Shulman, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), said the disclosures would be scoured to identify which institutions had helped the tax evaders.
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    Community,   Current Tonight,   Quest For The Truth
  2. tags:
    News,  US News,  Taxes,  Tax Havens,  1 more
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15 comments // US tax amnesty nets 7,500 tax dodgers

  • TheEmpireGuy
  • royulery
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  
    • royulery:

      When Ike was president there was a 90 percent tax rate.
      They collected more taxes and the rick were still rich. Now they want more than rich. They want all of the pie not just a big piece.
      It can be fixed. The problme is that the paid off house of Lords or our Senate is either paid off of weak kneed.

    • 2 years ago
  • FoosMaster
    • 0
      FoosMaster  

    • They should not be given any special treatment for breaking the law just because they are rich.
      If someone robs a bank, do you tell them that if they turn themselves in that they can give up just part of the money and get off with a slap on the wrist?

    • 2 years ago
  • My_America
  • carmalite
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  

    • We need to reign in all the greedy parasites who don't want to pay their share while the rest of us are paying for them.
      Come one pigs, pay up!

    • 2 years ago
  • GavinTheMother
    • 0
      GavinTheMother  

    • The poor are going to complain about tax reform? LOL!!! The current tax structure is made for the rich. They have all the real tax shelters. If you work a 9-5 you're screwed.

      In light of the crackdown in Switzerland: On to Macao!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • good_stuff
    • 0
      good_stuff  

    • Certainly a great reason for just having 1 large sales tax that is paid by every person, company, etc. We don't really have a problem with people evading those taxes, and think about how easy it would be in the spring. No more tax filing hooray! We can't do it though because everybody would claim that the poor would be "unfairly burdened" since rich people make a lot more than they spend.

    • 2 years ago
  • osiris326
    • 0
      osiris326  

    • Just think that if congress closed loopholes for companies and collected all those unpaid taxes like they are now doing against individuals how much our deficit would shrink.

    • 2 years ago
  • shanklinmike
  • carmalite
  • hunzedog
  • NotFooled
    • 0
      NotFooled  

    • Start with Congress and you'll probably find a couple hundred. Belize and The Caymen Islands hide so many more than Switzerland does.

    • 2 years ago
  • nodonjuan
    • 0
      nodonjuan  

    • Pay your fair share and you wouldn't have to worry about this. 7,500 is just the tip of the iceberg. Now, legalize drugs, tax it and keep all that money in our country instead of Columbia ETC.

    • 2 years ago
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