US Justice asks UBS for more details in tax probe

1 July 2008

WASHINGTON – The US Justice Department is seeking information from Swiss bank UBS AG about US taxpayers who may have used offshore accounts to avoid paying federal income taxes.

The department has asked a federal court in Miami, Florida, to authorise the Internal Revenue Service, the federal tax collection agency, to serve UBS with a summons.

If approved, the summons would direct the bank to identify US taxpayers who have chosen to hide their accounts from the IRS.

A former UBS employee named Bradley Birkenfeld pleaded guilty 19 June to conspiring to defraud the IRS by helping the bank’s clients avoid U.S. tax reporting requirements.

[AP / Expatica]