避稅天堂瑞士遭圍剿,海外逃稅者何去何從
????威廉?夏普是在蘇黎世、舊金山和佛羅里達(dá)州坦帕執(zhí)業(yè)的稅務(wù)律師。他說,瑞士和美國的這項協(xié)議“將迫使瑞士銀行要求行為不當(dāng)?shù)拿绹蛻粢粗鲃优?,要么自己走人,而后者可能會把資金轉(zhuǎn)移到其他避稅天堂,比如新加坡或庫克群島?!?/p> ????如果擁有或控制的外國銀行賬戶中的資金達(dá)到或超過1萬美元(6.17萬元人民幣),美國納稅人就必須在今年6月30日前提交名為《海外銀行和金融賬戶報告》(Fbars)的特別披露報表(以美國財政部收到報表的時間為準(zhǔn),而不是郵戳日期)。到去年為止,這些納稅人還得提交一份新的海外金融資產(chǎn)報表,稱為form 8938。如果未能提交Fbars,納稅人就可能面臨罰款,數(shù)額是其銀行賬戶實(shí)際資金的數(shù)倍。 ????2007年,美國司法部首次將針對瑞士最大銀行瑞銀集團(tuán)(UBS)的重大犯罪調(diào)查擴(kuò)展到瑞士其他銀行。此后,已經(jīng)有大約3.8萬名持有保密賬戶的美國納稅人主動進(jìn)行了披露,并繳納了逾55億美元(339.35億元人民幣)的稅款、罰金和利息。 ????但美國政府暗自估算,仍有許多美國納稅人在瑞士、盧森堡、開曼群島和新加坡等海外避稅天堂擁有未經(jīng)披露的賬戶。 ????一位資深美國消息人士在簡要介紹情況時表示,在納稅人向美國國稅局進(jìn)行申報方面,“可以認(rèn)為有15%或20%的納稅人還沒有這樣做?!?/p> ????美國財政部反洗錢機(jī)構(gòu)金融犯罪執(zhí)法局(FinCen)提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,到2011年底,披露海外賬戶信息的美國納稅人數(shù)量已增至618,134人,和2006年美國開始調(diào)查瑞士私人銀行時相比翻了一番還多。不過,美國政府官員和稅務(wù)律師表示,在國外生活和工作的美國人可能有600萬,因此還有數(shù)十萬美國納稅人尚未坦白交代,而且這個數(shù)字只會增加,不會減少。 ????瑞士和美國達(dá)成協(xié)議后,稅務(wù)律師的電話已經(jīng)被持有瑞士銀行賬戶的美國人打爆。 ????卡茨博格說:“現(xiàn)在還看不清形勢,還沒有緊迫感、不打算立即披露賬戶信息的美國納稅人簡直就是法盲?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng)) ????譯者:Charlie?? |
????William Sharp, a tax lawyer in Zurich, San Francisco and Tampa, Fla., said that the deal "will force the Swiss banks to mandate errant American customers to undergo voluntary disclosure or walk the "exit" plank" and potentially move funds to other offshore havens like Singapore or the Cook Islands. ????Americans owning or controlling foreign bank accounts holding at least $10,000 had until June 30 this year to file special disclosures known as Fbars, or reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. (Post-marking the forms June 30 doesn't count -- the Treasury must receive them by that date). As of last year, taxpayers also had to file a new, similar disclosure, known as form 8938. Failure to file Fbars can result in penalties equal to a multiple of what a taxpayer actually has in his bank account. ????Since 2007, when the Justice Department first broadened its seminal criminal investigation of UBS AG (UBS), Switzerland's largest bank, to cover other Swiss banks, some 38,000 American taxpayers with hidden accounts have come forward to fess up and fork over $5.5 billion in taxes, fines, and interest. ????But American officials quietly estimate that scores of American taxpayers still have undisclosed accounts, in Switzerland and in other offshore havens such as Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. ????Of the IRS disclosures, "you can imagine that's maybe 20% or 15% of the total out there," said a senior American source briefed on the matter. ????From 2006, when scrutiny of Swiss private banks first began, through 2011, the number of American taxpayers disclosing offshore accounts more than doubled, to 618,134, according to data from FinCen, the U.S. Treasury branch that deals with money laundering. Still, government officials and tax lawyers say that with perhaps six million Americans living and working overseas somewhere in the world, hundreds of thousands of taxpayers, if not more, have yet to come clean. ????The deal is already leaving telephones of tax lawyers ringing off the hooks from Americans with Swiss accounts. ????"Any non-compliant U.S. taxpayer who can't read the handwriting now on the wall as an emergency signal to come forward," said Katzberg, "is legally blind."?? |