Tax Whistleblower Blog

IRS Pursues Swiss Private Banker

In the on-going saga of the IRS vs. Swiss Banks, the IRS has raised the stakes.  The U.S. has indicted Raoul Weil, a member of the executive board of UBS, for income tax evasion.  The story was reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, November 13, 2008.  The principals at www.RewardTax.com have been closely monitoring the saga over the past few months because this case was likely generated by a referral under the Tax Whistleblower Reward Program.  Despite the efforts of the IRS to obtain records from Switzerland, the Swiss have refrained from cooperating.  Switzerland has long-served as a tax haven for U.S. citizens who fraudulently avoid paying their tax.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the IRS is conservatively plotting its course and fears further disrupting the already-fragile international banking industry if it were to use its full might against UBS.  Never-the-less, the principals of www.RewardTax.com opine that the IRS must attack UBS with all of its might.  For years, the Swiss Banks have brazenly assisted U.S. citizens in fraudulently avoiding tax.  As the world economy evolves from multiple intercontinental economies into one international economy, tax cheats will have more and more access to tax havens in the future such as Switzerland.  When I was formerly employed by the IRS, I saw many cases where tax cheats were protected by the walls built by tax havens like Switzerland.  If the IRS loses or concedes this battle, it will open the flood-gates to abusive offshore trusts and secret bank accounts.  The bankers in Switzerland who willing assist criminals and who hide behind their bank secrecy laws must be dealt with by the IRS if our country is going to preserve its system of voluntary compliance with the Internal Revenue Code.  The criminals who utilize the Swiss tax haven to avoid paying U.S. tax, are the same wealthy individuals who owe much of their success to the U.S. form of government and its opportunities.  Anyone who has information about U.S. citizens utilizing offshore trusts or secret bank accounts are encouraged to contact the principals at www.RewardTax.com.