Washington, D.C., partner Stuart Bassin was quoted in the September 21, 2009, Bloomberg News article, "IRS to Extend Leniency for UBS Offshore Disclosures."
According to the article, the IRS will extend until Oct. 15 the ability of Americans with undeclared offshore accounts at UBS AG and other banks to avoid criminal prosecution and some fines if they disclose their holdings. The agency will delay a Sept. 23 deadline at the request of accountants and tax lawyers who are experiencing an influx of inquiries and need more time to prepare "voluntary disclosure" applications under the program.
"This is a positive step," said Bassin, former Senior Litigation Counsel with the U.S. Department of Justice Department Tax Division. "This gives everybody a couple of weeks to digest what's happened in the last three weeks and get their paperwork together."
Bassin said the disclosure program is also in the government's best interest because "they can't litigate and investigate 50,000 people at the same time." Bassin said the 3,000 people who have come forward dwarf the IRS's usual voluntary disclosure programs.