August 20,2009

Grassley: UBS-IRS Settlement Over Tax Evasion Leaves Open Questions


Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, today made thefollowing comment on the agreement between UBS of Switzerland and the InternalRevenue Service over tax evasion.

“The IRS needs to increase its enforcement of offshore tax evasion. Prior IRScommissioners agreed with Finance Committee leaders and other senators that it wastime to crack the whip. It’s not clear whether the UBS settlement is a good deal for theU.S. taxpayers. It may be but before I render that judgment, I need to know more,including how the IRS whittled down 52,000 accounts to 4,450. And Switzerland isn’tthe only country accommodating the evasion of U.S. taxes. I’m also interested inwhether the IRS is pursuing enforcement involving other countries, too, especially thosethat don’t have tax treaties with the United States.”