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As U.S. Looks Beyond Switzerland for Tax Cheats, Singapore Shores Up Its Compliance Credentials
By Brian Monroe
printAs settlement negotiations with Swiss banks continue, the IRS is turning its attention to jurisdictions outside of Europe, including two set to eclipse Switzerland as the world's top secrecy havens. Singapore and Hong Kong are "high on the priority list" for IRS investigators, in part because of information gathered through at least three agency voluntary disclosure programs, according to a government official familiar with ongoing financial crime investigations. One of the IRS's top goals going forward will be to investigate non-Swiss banks for tax violations, said the person. "In Switzerland there was definitely a culture of tax evasion, but offshore...
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