G20 Will Push for End to Tax Havens

Brown will announce G20 deal with Switzerland, Monaco

(NEWSER) - Ten tax-haven nations—including Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Monaco—will share information with other countries about suspected tax dodgers in a deal to be announced at this week’s G20 summit, the Telegraph reports. The deal is a coup for PM Gordon Brown, who is hosting the summit and who has been pushing for an end to tax havens for more than a decade. More»

(NEWSER) - UBS will hand over the names of 4,450 of its American account holders as part of a tax evasion settlement, the Wall Street Journal reports, and another 5,000 names will be produced under a special IRS amnesty program. UBS won’t pay a monetary fine. Those being turned over may have a chance to fight the disclosure in Swiss court. The compromise gets around potential Swiss objections to the disclosures. More»

(NEWSER) - Offshore tax havens may not be fair, but they’ve been around for decades. So why is President Obama taking them on now, Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich asks in Salon. It’s not to try to keep jobs here, as the White House claims; the move might even drive jobs away. It’s far more likely this is a sly strategic move in the universal health-care fight. More»

The Obama Administration will unveil details of its tax-haven crackdown today

(NEWSER) - White House plans to curb offshore tax avoidance will be rolled out today, the Wall Street Journal reports, with the target on both US multinationals and wealthy individuals who are sheltering an estimated $700 billion in US earnings overseas. The plan takes particular aim at “deferral,” which allows companies to take large tax breaks on profits earned overseas until that money is repatriated to the US. More»

Bank blames US tax fraud case for some of its 1Q losses

(NEWSER) - Bad times are continuing for UBS in the wake of last year's record loss, the Guardian reports. The troubled Swiss bank reported a $1.75 billion loss in the first quarter, and announced plans to ax 8,700 employees—11% of its global workforce—sparking rumors that it plans to downsize by ditching its investment banking arm to concentrate on wealth management. More»