The Wall Street Journal

UBSWhistleblowerGets $104 Million(Links to an external site.)

The Wall Street Journal

Now a Felon, Former Banker Told U.S. About Tax-Evasion Tactics by UBS and Its Wealthy Clients

A former UBS AG banker who helped the U.S. government unleash an international crackdown on tax evasion was awarded $4 million in what is believed to be the largest ever span whistleblowerpayout to an individual.

CreditSuissePleads Guilty in Criminal Tax Case(Links to an external site.)

The Wall Street Journal

CreditSuisseGroupAG became the first financial institution in more than a decade to plead guilty to a crime Monday when the Swiss bank admitted it conspired to aid tax evasion and agreed to pay a.6 billion to settle a long-running probe by the U.S. Justice Department.

The Panama Papers Scandal(Links to an external site.)

The Wall Street Journal

Panama Papers(Links to an external site.)at a glance:

What are thePanama papers?

A huge batch of reports late Sunday linked 140 public figures, executives and celebrities around the world to overseas assets in offshore tax havens ranging from the British Virgin Islands to Panama. Iceland’s prime minister has resigned, while Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman deflected criticism. More political pressure is likely to follow.

Directions:

• Read the WSJ articles above that show some of the scope of offshore tax evasion which is still a significant tax gap issue today. Thus far the IRS has collected over $11 billion dollars and over 54,000 offshore disclosures have been made since Mr. Birkenfeld’s case. The first Panama Case convictions began this year and are ongoing. To date 84 Swiss banks have signed deferred criminal prosecution agreements with the Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/tax/swiss-bank-program(Links to an external site.)
• Comment on your impressions of the articles.