Basler Kantonalbank

Basler Kantonalbank, as well as other Swiss cantonal banks, is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

The IRS and the DOJ have been given thousands of pages of encoded data by Swiss authorities. These documents contain information that identifies United States taxpayers with undisclosed offshore accounts at Swiss banks. As soon as the U.S. and Swiss governments reach an agreement, the Swiss authorities will decode the data and the IRS and the DOJ will begin investigating U.S. taxpayers whose names appear within the information.

Government officials introduced the 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program to encourage U.S. clients with undisclosed offshore accounts to come into compliance.

We currently represent U.S. taxpayers who are making voluntary disclosures of their foreign accounts.

Terms of the 2012 IRS Amnesty program include:

1. A 27.5 percent penalty of the undisclosed offshore accounts based on the highest total account balances over an eight-year period.
2. Participants with undisclosed offshore accounts must pay back interest and taxes on any unreported income for up to eight years, as well as delinquency and/or accuracy related penalties.
3. Participants with undisclosed offshore accounts must file all amended and original tax returns, as well as include payments for taxes, interest, and accuracy related penalties.

U.S. taxpayers who successfully complete the 2012 IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program will be able to avoid severe civil penalties and criminal prosecution.

Time is of the essence. Once the IRS opens criminal investigation into a taxpayer, that taxpayer is no longer eligible to disclose under the IRS’s 2012 Voluntary Disclosure Initiative.  Thorn Law Group has the civil tax law experience to help you get back into compliance with the IRS through the Voluntary Disclosure Program.

For a confidential consultation, please contact Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group at ket@thornlawgroup.com or (202) 270-7273.