"Will Offshore-Account Holders Surrender?" ... LINK

[Blackhatjack]

It is about time the IRS turned their attention to those who have "many millions of dollars" stashed abroad, instead of chasing down taxpayers too poor to hire counsel to defend themselves.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123915217617799333.html?mod=article-outset-box

"Will Offshore-Account Holders Surrender?"

The U.S. Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are intensifying efforts to nab more Americans concealing assets and taxable income in secret offshore bank accounts. But interviews with more than a dozen lawyers representing clients with accounts in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and other well-known tax havens indicate that many wealthy people may be reluctant to cooperate.

In a major new initiative, the IRS late last month unveiled new incentives for people to turn themselves in voluntarily over the next six months, pay what they owe and answer questions they may be asked about who helped them set up the secret accounts. Officials are offering milder penalties than could otherwise be imposed -- and a reduced likelihood of criminal prosecution.

The IRS is also threatening to crack down hard on those who hide and later get caught. "Combating offshore tax evasion has been and will continue to be one of the IRS's top priorities," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said last week. "Anyone in this situation needs to immediately come in through our voluntary disclosure process before it's too late. It's better to come clean now instead of waiting and facing a heavier price later."

Since then, lawyers say they have been flooded by frantic calls from wealthy clients wondering whether to turn themselves in -- and, if so, how. "One woman was very scared. She was in tears," says Bryan Skarlatos, a lawyer at Kostelanetz & Fink in New York and chairman of the American Bar Association tax section's committee on civil and criminal tax penalties. On the ride back to New York from a tax conference in Galloway, N.J., last Friday, Mr. Skarlatos received four calls from worried clients. Some people have "many millions of dollars" stashed abroad, he says, and "are having a hard time deciding" what to do about the IRS program, which he describes as "the classic carrot-and-stick approach."

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[Blackhatjack]

1. I doubt there will be a lot of empathy for these rich Americans hiding millions offshore...n/t

[Lasher]

2. One woman in tears, huh?

Boo fucking hoo. Let her cry in prison where she belongs.

[zeemike]

3. Yep just another attack on their freedom

i can already hear the gnashing of teeth and wailing from the right.

[elehhhhna]

4. Uh, offshore tax cheats were offered a 2 year "amnesty" to refile

in, IIRC, 2002. THROW THE BOOK AT 'EM.