Faced with IRS Crackdown re Offshore Bank Accounts, Some Resolve Issue by Renouncing US Citizenship
It hasn’t yet become a deluge. But a trickle of Americans opting to give up their United States citizenship has increased to a steady stream, in conjunction with an ongoing effort by the Internal Revenue Service to collect tax owed by those with assets in offshore bank accounts, the Miami Herald reports.
In 2008, just 226 did so. But in 2009, the year that Swiss bank UBS AG agreed to reveal the names of American account-holders, the tally rose to 731.
That number increased to 1,485 in 2010 and jumped again to 1,780 last year.
“There is a general government push for more disclosure,” said Edward Robbins, a California tax attorney who represented billionaire Igor Olenicoff, a major figure in the IRS probe of UBS AG.
The crackdown by the feds in recent years on those who hold assets offshore “is obviously linked” to the citizenship renunciations, he told the newspaper.
Renunciation of citizenship, which is done by those who are already citizens of another country or countries, is accomplished by signing an oath before a diplomatic representative abroad, the article notes.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Billionaire Olenicoff’s Plea Docs Describe Tax Evasion Techniques”
ABAJournal.com: “US Tax-Evasion Probe Is Eyeing Americans with Offshore Accounts Tied to Israel Banks”
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer Held In Lieu of $2M Bail re Claimed Conspiracy to Help Clients Avoid Tax on Offshore $10M “
