The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) yesterday increased the pressure in its psychological war to deter US citizens from investing in The Bahamas and other offshore centres by saying it expects to recover more than $100 million in unpaid taxes through the Offshore Voluntary Compliance Initiative which closed on April 15.
Bob Wenzel, the acting IRS commissioner, yesterday said the US tax collection agency had already identified more than $50 million in uncollected taxes and 80 new promoters of offshore financial schemes with some 1,200 people having come forward to participate in the initiative.
The IRS added that it had identified the 80 offshore promoters from analysing just the first 229 cases in the Offshore Voluntary Initiative, saying this success carried “significant potential for future agency efforts to track down offshore tax evaders”.
By Neil Hartnell, The Tribune
