Hidden away inside the front section of the New York Times today is some good news for tax enforcement (and probably for tax compliance)--Switzerland's decision to allow its banks to disclose hidden accounts, what the article calls a "watershed move" in the ongoing saga about banking secrecy and tax avoidance. See Browning & Werdigier, Switzerland to Allow Its Banks to Disclose Hidden Client Accounts, New York Times (May 30, 1913).
The US enactment of strong rules requiring disclosure (commonly called the FATCA rules) and its stepped up efforts of enforcement of US taxpayers' reporting of offshore assets, including voluntary disclosure initiatives and criminal prosecutions, have had an effect. Many Americans were intentionally or inadvertently hiding millions offshore. Switzerland was "an offshore money haven for wealthy foreigners" because of its banking secrecy. Some Americans are still hiding their money there (and elsewhere). But those who still have offshore accounts should recognize that the day of reckoning is drawing nearer and nearer.
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