UBS says IRS has 20 Swiss banks in its sights, page 1

UBS says IRS has 20 Swiss banks in its sights

www.miamiherald.com

The Associated Press
GENEVA -- UBS AG says the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has collected information on the cross-border activities of about 20 Swiss banks in the course of its amnesty program for American tax evaders.

The claim is contained in a letter sent to Swiss parliamentarians urging them to approve a treaty between Switzerland and the United States on improving cooperation on tax evasion matters.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is perhaps one of the surest signs of desperation regarding the finances of the U.S. Government that there is.

The IRS is apparently considerably widening the number of Swiss Banks it wants to investigate American Account holders transactions with for income tax purposes.

While there is a lot of talk in the news everyday about sanctions against Iran clearly there must be some very significant behind the scenes threats being leveled at Switzerland as its parliament struggles to alter the Swiss’s famed bank secrecy laws to accommodate the IRS fearing what it describes as the potential for significant damage to the Swiss Economy and the Swiss Banking Industry should access to the IRS be denied.

It really leads one to wonder what kind of leverage the IRS and the U.S. Government is using against the Swiss that is managing to intrude successfully on their previously impenetrable ultra secretive banking empire prized by the well heeled and moneyed around the world for the anonymity and discretion it offers people looking to shelter large deposits from any prying eyes.

The cost of doing this must be fairly enormous for the IRS in terms of the intensity of the behind the scenes international negotiations and diplomacy involved and it leads one to wonder just what kind of financial commitments the U.S. has that it is this desperate and will go so far in order to collect money.

One also might want to ask is it simply for the money or part of a much larger over all effort to whittle down and eliminate America’s dwindling middle class by going after one of the chief money havens that are out there internationally.

It will be interesting to see if in the months ahead the U.S. makes any attempt to go after other ultra secret banking states like the Cayman Islands and tiny Lichtenstein.


www.miamiherald.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

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In my opinion I think this is a way to show those who feel they have it all figured out that they are no longer safe. I don't feel feel that it is a desperate attempt to collect the finances, that contractually, these people owe. To me the TPTB are homing in on those who are comfortable inside the system.

Certain pawns of theirs will now become villains and others who really thought they were safe will be exposed as criminals. It's a witch hunt of sorts. This is another step toward consolidating the masses and redistributing wealth. They'll give us a common enemy and show us how diligently they are working on our behalf. The general public will fall for this hook line and sinker.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

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Proto, I do not know if you remember the story about the Japanese nationals caught in Italy crossing the border into Switzerland this past summer or spring.

That story still gives me the willies on how the people were let go with the bearer bonds.

When that happened I tried searches in the Italian Newspapers and some people here had some good info.

That whole thing still gives me goose bumps on what was going on. Especially the blackout of the info.

Related?

reply to post by LostNemesis

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Thank you for posting this story. I hope it gets the attention I feel it deserves. This really is huge.

The United States Government and Federal Reserve Bank, along with the all-powerful IRS, seem to be grasping for every power they can get their hands on... over us.

This really is a huge story and in part because it all stems from a bit of trickery and deception on the part of the IRS.

Two years ago they offered any tax payer amnesty from any criminal charges if they would disclose where and how they were sheltering assets overseas.

The IRS is now using all that information to go after the Institutions that were involved believing that those who turned themselves in were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

It marks a stunning acceleration of the government’s desire and ability to tax at any and all costs even to the extent of meddling with and altering the internal affairs and business practices of other sovereign nations.

What makes this story even more huge is the fact that traditionally the Swiss have been well protected in their banking empire and clearly their acquiescence now displays that those who have traditionally protected the Swiss from scrutiny and intrusion feel there is more to be gained in some fashion by letting the IRS have its way with them.

Is that because the U.S. needs the money to keep its financial obligations and commitments to those Powers that Be that have typically sheltered the Swiss but are declining too in this case or do they too have a vested interest in helping to further impoverish and frighten America’s upper middle class into some form of submission and poverty, and to what end and purpose?

Originally posted by TheCoffinman
the IRS isnt gonna get anywheres because the BIS wont allow anything to happen to their secret banking state of switzerland and their laws... Its like shootin yourself in the foot..

Except for two things you might be failing to better consider...

1. Is that they have already cracked UBS Bank! So...a precedent has been set.

2.

From the article...

A court decision in January forced the Swiss government to bring the treaty back to parliament to end the long-running tax dispute with the United States.

The Zurich-based bank says in the letter that "the risks for the Swiss financial center and the economy as a whole if parliament were to withhold its approval are very considerable."

MiamiHerald.com

The Swiss do appear to be literally frightened and running scared

reply to post by jackflap

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In my opinion I think this is a way to show those who feel they have it all figured out that they are no longer safe. I don't feel feel that it is a desperate attempt to collect the finances, that contractually, these people owe. To me the TPTB are homing in on those who are comfortable inside the system.

Well spoken JackFlap this is the government using extraordinary means and lengths to replenish the treasury, and create fear amongst those who are not particularly politically well connected.

It is also a sheer attempt to establish the absolute dominance of the state over its citizens and those who were born and dwell within it by literally going to the lengths of the earth to know everything about them and their business and extract a profit and toll from it.

Great post my friend.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

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jackflap makes some very interesting points. But I think it is not just a witch-hunt for the ones that might be 'comfortable within the system', but a loud and clear warning to ALL OF US.

I can't help but think they want us to know that every single thing we do is under surveillance. Big Brother seems like an understatement.

It is not just the rich and powerful involved in overseas business and banking transactions. Clearly they want ALL of us to know that we are being watched.

Just like the whole thing about monitoring our internet transactions, I don't feel like it is completely about money. But about power and control.
They are taking power over what is theirs -- Us!!!

Originally posted by endisnighe
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

---

Proto, I do not know if you remember the story about the Japanese nationals caught in Italy crossing the border into Switzerland this past summer or spring.

That story still gives me the willies on how the people were let go with the bearer bonds.

When that happened I tried searches in the Italian Newspapers and some people here had some good info.

That whole thing still gives me goose bumps on what was going on. Especially the blackout of the info.

Related?

That was a fascinating case and one I remember well, but to me what is even more fascinating about it was the fact that the men in question were apprehended in Rome which as many posters know I believe is the principal power behind the Shadow Government that rules so much of the world through the banking industry and military industrial complex.

Rome too has genuinely been the protector of Swiss anonymity and neutrality and secrecy and when you look at the case of the Japanese couriers with bonds that the media and the government never subsequently confirmed were legitimate or counterfeit but that their journey began in Rome one really has to wonder who is owed what and what kind of leverage they truly must have that these exceptional occurrences are happening.

Excellent addition to provide some added and important context of just what makes this story now so worthy of note and important.

Thanks my friend.

reply to post by ziggy1706

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Probably because we have the largest global empire to pay for with military bases in 2 out of every 3 countries around the world.

If for no other reason it is just an all powerful government looking to increase its power and reach and sway in any way possible.

If we keep up this pace pretty soon people will be lamenting Germany lost World War II!



[edit on 13/3/10 by ProtoplasmicTraveler]

Originally posted by LostNemesis
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

---

jackflap makes some very interesting points. But I think it is not just a witch-hunt for the ones that might be 'comfortable within the system', but a loud and clear warning to ALL OF US.

I can't help but think they want us to know that every single thing we do is under surveillance. Big Brother seems like an understatement.

It is not just the rich and powerful involved in overseas business and banking transactions. Clearly they want ALL of us to know that we are being watched.

Just like the whole thing about monitoring our internet transactions, I don't feel like it is completely about money. But about power and control.
They are taking power over what is theirs -- Us!!!

Most of it is about presenting an all seeing all mighty and all powerful state that we are all small and insignificant in the face of.

I tell you though I feel if we allow the nation to continue on its present course for about another year and a half amassing even more unconstitutional power that it will finally be a pretty even match up between them and me and I won’t have to feel like I am picking on a weakling!

The point being that the systems themselves seem overwhelming but those systems are manned by fallible bureaucrats that represent a chain of weak links in every one of those systems.

From the idiots who work at the airport dragging crippled children out of wheel chairs, to the imbeciles who work for the FDA, to the affirmative action program taking place in the White House our government is full of people who really don’t have a clue.

They like to poke and meddle into everything, truly they do, they like to grow and perpetuate their own sense of power but I for one have never been intimidated by them or ever will be, because ultimately the government boils down to human beings, individual human beings who put their pants on one leg at a time just like I do.

Most of them do what they do out of a misguided sense of morality and for a paycheck. Take one or both of those things away from enough of them and the whole network falls like a house of cards.

Remember always the bigger they are the harder they fall.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

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Well spoken JackFlap this is the government using extraordinary means and lengths to replenish the treasury, and create fear amongst those who are not particularly politically well connected. It is also a sheer attempt to establish the absolute dominance of the state over its citizens and those who were born and dwell within it by literally going to the lengths of the earth to know everything about them and their business and extract a profit and toll from it.

I tried making a post to this reply about an hour ago. It took quite some time to create and when I went to post it, I lost it! How frustrating is that? I am going to re create it and copy it before I post it. I've done this before and should have known better.

I don't believe they are worried about replenishing the treasury at all. I don't believe it needs replenishing. I believe they knew how and where the money went and I believe that they know exactly how to get it back. It never left their possession really.

You see those people who tried to hide their wealth overseas were more than likely let in on a little trick that only these certain people know about. They felt as if this is what those people in the know do, then how can they lose? I mean all of those other people who were privy to such information had and are getting away with it, so why not them? Let's keep this quiet though, not everyone knows how to do this stuff. Power is intoxicating.

Then you have the staged financial collapse. The cavalry rides in and demands to know about these little indiscretions that seem to appear in the paper work and electronic transactions. Is everything legit in those transactions? Hell no. The parts that will surface have been placed there purposely well before the staged financial collapse. There will be nothing to exonerate these people. They are the villains and criminals who will be blamed for their small part in all of this.

It's kind of like that post you made some time back. I believe it was about downloading music illegally. It's the forbidden fruit. It's so easy to do but you're told not to do it which makes it that much more desirable. Do they want us to do it? Yes. That way they can punish us for doing what they said not to. I may have forgotten some points, but I think I covered what I was thinking.

reply to post by jackflap

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It's very true JackFlap that they love to create laws for the sole purpose of getting people to break them. In many ways it is as if the state truly wants to be criminals so they can treat us all as criminals.

The more laws there are the more corrupt the state and we have way to way to way to many laws that are all about enriching the state at the citizens expense.

They likely don't need the money but they surely don't want us to have it either.

What a world, thanks for another great and well thought out post.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

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But as Cramer explained, tax evasion is different than the so-called patriotic concept of tax avoidance. In U.S. tax courts, you are guilty until proven innocent. And if someone wanted to blow the whistle on tax evaders, who may use tax shelters like the Cayman Islands, it could be very lucrative. “If somebody – is evading $3 million in their taxes, you should call the IRS on their tip line,” Cramer said. “You can get a third. You can squeal to the IRS.”

www.businessandmedia.org...

I was reading through some news today and I just had to add this to this thread. So now they are encouraging us to rat eachother out. It could be very profitable!

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