The New York Times says yes. The Justice Department says no.
I’m not sure what to believe but it does make you wonder what’s going on… The Times has suggested that the DOJ may back off its investigation of more than 52,000 über rich Americans who held secret accounts at the Swiss bank, UBS, citing concern over Swiss-American relations.
Ah, the Swiss. Purveyors of chocolate, cheese, and secret US bank accounts. Are we really that concerned with what they think about our efforts to resolve our own tax issues?
The Justice Department says no and has issued a statement saying that they will move ahead with asking the court to enforce the summons next week.
The bank, meanwhile, has already agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for its part in helping US taxpayers evade taxes. As part of that settlement, UBS has also admitted its guilt. Guilt. As in they said they did it. It would be odd at this point for the DOJ to just walk away with no names.
While I don’t believe the US intends to prosecute individual taxpayers, I do think they will chase those taxpayers for back taxes, penalties, and interest. To decide against it now makes the IRS’ recent “voluntary compliance” efforts all a joke.
We’ll know more next week. Keep reading…
How about forcing other countries to comply with our constiutional rights of free press, speech, assembly and civil rights. Isn’t that more important than forcing other countries to comply with our tax laws? Do we have the right to demand that other countries comply with our laws? That is insane!
We shouldn’t meddle in another country’s business. We do it because we can. we can bully the Swiss. Can we bully Iran for more important things than money. How about North Korea. Let’s bully them into submission.
We can’t. that’s why we don’t.
Pres. Reagan stood up to the Russians.
Pres. Obama stood up to the Swiss.
It’s a slippery slope, is it not?
If you take taxes out of the equation and look at it on its face, we have a company with an active presence in the US, soliciting US clients to break US law. And they admitted that they did it. When does it become ok?
At first, this recommendation may seem completely off-topic but I swear it’s on point: Read “Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World” by Goldsmith and Wu. It has nothing to do with tax law but everything to do with countries enforcing their laws internationally.
One of the most common themes in the book is control over physical resources (as Kelly points out, UBS has “an active presence in the US”). It details efforts by countries all over the world to make the Internet play by their own rules.
to Kelly: when you are in a country and break their law you can be punished. Should you punish the country that the perpitrader came from?
UBS should pay a hefty fine. it is not a criminal offence. they didn’t kill, rape, or take someones freedom away. When Companies break the law, they get fined and executives are fired.
When Dupont( US chemical company) was negligent and a chemical spill killed hundreds of people in India, the company paid a hefty fine, executives were fired and cleanup ensued. The Indian government didn’t attempt to interfere with the US chemical safety laws.
Obama will not be remembered for collecting a few million dollars from US tax payers with Swiss accounts. He will be remembered for not standing up to Iran, when they needed a western voice. (the signs from the crowds were in English) and letting North Korea push us around.
After all, a tax hungry U.S. administration that will double-cross a faithful ally such as the Swiss; the same administration that shamelessly perpetrates a global smear campaign and threatens unprecedented economic sanctions – all to force a change in Swiss privacy laws and get more taxes…such an administration simply cannot be trusted.