M E M O R A N D U M
To: Reporters and Editors
Re: UBS settlement with the IRS
Da: Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009
Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, today made the following comment on the agreement between UBS of Switzerland and the Internal Revenue Service over tax evasion.
“The IRS needs to increase its enforcement of offshore tax evasion. Prior IRS commissioners agreed with Finance Committee leaders and other senators that it was time to crack the whip. It’s not clear whether the UBS settlement is a good deal for the U.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’t the only country accommodating the evasion of U.S. taxes. I’m also interested in whether the IRS is pursuing enforcement involving other countries, too, especially those that don’t have tax treaties with the United States.”