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Banks warn Australia's wealthy of looming penalties for tax evasion
Swiss bank UBS was one of a string foreign banks asked to pass on the ATO's warning to Australian investors / The Daily Telegraph Source: The Daily Telegraph
THOUSANDS of wealthy Australian investors using offshore tax haven accounts have been contacted by their banks and warned they could face huge penalties.
The ATO has approached a string of locally operating foreign banks - including Swiss banking giant UBS - requesting they warn customers of the huge penalties they could face by failing to declare foreign income.
Duncan Fairweather, Australian Financial Markets Association executive director, recently wrote to about 50 banks, asking them to pass the warning on to clients on behalf of the ATO, The Australian reports.
"We have contacted all the foreign banks working in the Australian market and asked them to remind their clients they may have tax obligations in Australia," he said.
UBS said in its global annual report that tax authorities in Australia, Canada and Britain had filed requests for information relating to its "cross-border wealth management services" after a massive tax evasion case in the US.
In August last year, UBS agreed to reveal the identities of more than 4000 alleged US tax cheats following legal action by the US government.
"Tax and regulatory authorities in a number of countries have (subsequently) requested information relating to the cross-border wealth management services provided by UBS and other financial institutions," UBS said.
"In particular the revenue services of Canada, the UK and Australia have served requests upon, or made inquiries of, UBS and other Swiss and non-Swiss financial institutions."
The bank said it was co-operating with those requests, but only "strictly within the limits of financial privacy obligations under Swiss and other applicable laws."
An ATO spokeswoman said the agency could not comment on the warnings to bank customers because of "privacy issues" concerning the banks involved.
The ATO has given taxpayers an amnesty until the middle of this year to disclose income earned offshore.
- By Anthony Klan
- From: The Australian
- March 17, 2010 3:10AM
Swiss bank UBS was one of a string foreign banks asked to pass on the ATO's warning to Australian investors / The Daily Telegraph Source: The Daily Telegraph
THOUSANDS of wealthy Australian investors using offshore tax haven accounts have been contacted by their banks and warned they could face huge penalties.
The ATO has approached a string of locally operating foreign banks - including Swiss banking giant UBS - requesting they warn customers of the huge penalties they could face by failing to declare foreign income.
Duncan Fairweather, Australian Financial Markets Association executive director, recently wrote to about 50 banks, asking them to pass the warning on to clients on behalf of the ATO, The Australian reports.
"We have contacted all the foreign banks working in the Australian market and asked them to remind their clients they may have tax obligations in Australia," he said.
UBS said in its global annual report that tax authorities in Australia, Canada and Britain had filed requests for information relating to its "cross-border wealth management services" after a massive tax evasion case in the US.
In August last year, UBS agreed to reveal the identities of more than 4000 alleged US tax cheats following legal action by the US government.
"Tax and regulatory authorities in a number of countries have (subsequently) requested information relating to the cross-border wealth management services provided by UBS and other financial institutions," UBS said.
"In particular the revenue services of Canada, the UK and Australia have served requests upon, or made inquiries of, UBS and other Swiss and non-Swiss financial institutions."
The bank said it was co-operating with those requests, but only "strictly within the limits of financial privacy obligations under Swiss and other applicable laws."
An ATO spokeswoman said the agency could not comment on the warnings to bank customers because of "privacy issues" concerning the banks involved.
The ATO has given taxpayers an amnesty until the middle of this year to disclose income earned offshore.
