August 19, 2009

Under Agreement, UBS to Give Up 4,450 Names - NYTimes.com

Under Agreement, UBS to Give Up 4,450 Names - NYTimes.com

Bravo for the Justice Department and the IRS! This is the type of enforcement action that is worthwhile!

I have no quarrel with people being rich or making large amounts of money, but when they illegally evade the taxes due on those monies when I and other taxpayers pay their proper share, they deserve to be prosecuted and pay all taxes due.

What the story doesn't reveal is how many years in the past will they attempt to collect taxes and penalties.

We also expect the names will be made very public along with the back taxes and penalties they must pay. If there's jail time after prosecution and conviction for those who don't pay, we'll also want to know that.

A follow-on story in the 8/20 NY Times has this to say:

"The current penalty for this type of failure to disclose assets is up to 50 percent of the highest annual balance of each account for each of the last three years — an amount that can quickly wipe out an investor and still leave him owing taxes and interest.

Investors who come forward before Sept. 23 face a reduced penalty, of 5 percent to 20 percent, depending in part on whether the wealth was inherited. They will also be hit with the penalty just once, on the highest balance in the accounts during the last six years.

The Justice Department has opened criminal investigations of 150 UBS clients, and is likely to bring more indictments on top of the four it brought in recent months. Only clients who are prosecuted are likely to have their names become public."

Now, if Justice can root out more of the fraud involved in Medicaid and Medicare...

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