Julius Baer

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are continuing their investigation into Swiss bank- Julius Baer as part of their continuing probe of Swiss banks.

Swiss authorities, as part of its negotiations with the United States, have given U.S. officials tens of thousands of pages of encoded data containing information to identify U.S. taxpayers with secret offshore accounts at Julius Baer and other Swiss banks. As soon as the Swiss and U.S. governments reach an agreement, the Swiss authorities will decode the data and the DOJ and IRS will begin investigating those U.S. taxpayers. For U.S. taxpayers with hidden offshore accounts, now is the time to ensure that their foreign accounts and assets are properly reported to the IRS.

The IRS has announced its 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program for taxpayers with undisclosed offshore accounts.

Thorn Law Group currently represents United States taxpayers making voluntary disclosures of their offshore accounts.

Basic terms of the 2012 IRS Amnesty program are:

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

Participants who successfully complete the 2012 IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program can avoid criminal prosecution, and severe civil penalties.

For a consultation, contact Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner, at ket@thornlawgroup.com or (617) 692-2989.

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