News & Events

The U.S. Tax Court held July 8 in a case of first impression that it has jurisdiction under section 7623(b)(4) to consider a whistleblower's appeal of an award determination by the IRS Whistleblower Office. (For William Prentice Cooper III v. Commissioner, 135 T.C. No. 4 (Jul. 8, 2010), see Doc 2010-15202  .)

It is that time of year again - time to file your FBAR!  All FBARs must be received - not just postmarked - by June 30.

Swiss tax authorities are working to gather the information required by the U.S. – UBS deal for delivery to the IRS before the August deadline.

In a blow to the Swiss tradition of banking secrecy, the Swiss Parliament voted today to allow UBS AG to carry out its agreement with the U.S. government. Under the terms of the agreement, UBS promised to disclose the identities of U.S. taxpayers with hidden accounts at the Swiss bank. In exchange, the U.S. government agreed to not prosecute UBS for its role in assisting U.S. tax evaders. UBS plans to disclose the names and account details of 4,450 accounts held by US citizens suspected of tax evasion.

In what is seen as a blow to the famous Swiss banking secrecy laws, the Swiss Parliament resolved its split over the UBS account information disclosure issue when the lower house voted on June 15th to effectively overturn the Swiss court’s ruling that was temporarily blocking the agreement between UBS and the U.S. government.  Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. government agreed to not prosecute UBS for its actions in assisting US tax evaders if UBS disclosed the names and account details of its 4,450 largest accounts held by US citizens suspected of tax evasion.