Scott Michel Comments on the Credit Suisse Senate Hearing

Credit Suisse executives faced a Senate hearing on February 26, 2014 concerning the use of Swiss banks to help American citizens evade their U.S. tax obligations.   Taxpayers are being advised by tax lawyers to come forward before the Justice Department increases its pursuit in response to Senate pressure.  In an interview with Bloomberg News, Caplin & Drysdale President Scott D. Michel, discusses the government's enforcement program, as well as implications for future global reporting.  For the full story, please visit Bloomberg's website. 

Excerpt taken from the article.

The department and the IRS can't go after every individual tax scofflaw so the voluntary disclosure program offers some means of enforcement without a drag on resources, said Scott Michel, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale in Washington.  Aggressive enforcement by the department either through subpoenas or attempts to sanction banks would hurt efforts to work out reporting agreements with the Swiss and other countries, he said.

"The U.S. has won this war," Michel said in an interview. "This is over. All we're talking about now is the cleanup of the past."

Pending Treaty

The hearing also highlighted a proposed amendment to a U.S.-Swiss tax treaty that lawmakers and witnesses said would make it easier for Swiss banks to hand over data on thousands of Americans with accounts hidden from the IRS. That measure, however, is being blocked by Senator Rand Paul.

"I think it would go a long way to dramatically expanding the access to names here," Michel said.