I do not promote tax evasion, neither offshore or onshore. But for Canadians to go into a Tax Amnesty a.k.a. Voluntary Disclosure, thinking that coming clean by way of a Voluntary Disclosure, is always the best way to go is foolhardy.

So far 90 Canadians have lined up for slaughter. They knowingly committed tax evasion, they lived with it. Now out of fear that they may get caught, come willingly into the spiders webb.

I am not saying that they should not come clean. I am saying that there may be better ways to sleep at night.

Simply Stated. CRA is not having any luck getting the records from the United Bank of Switzerland.

To learn more about voluntary disclosure risks go to [1] www.tax-audit-solutions.com  or[2] www.danwhite.ca

Dan White

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Canada says could sue UBS over list of clients
Wed Dec 2, 2009 4:19pm EST

* Canada won’t say when it would start suing UBS

* 90 UBS clients have voluntarily revealed accounts

OTTAWA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Canada, which is trying to clamp down on tax evasion, is prepared to take Swiss bank UBS (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N) to court if necessary to compel it to hand over details of Canadians who might be account holders, a government minister said on Wednesday.

Ottawa has been pressing UBS since early September for the names, but has had no success.

National Revenue Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said 90 people have voluntarily disclosed their UBS accounts to Ottawa. The government has reached deals with 44 of them, raising an extra C$15.3 million ($14.6 million) in tax revenue in the process.

“We are still discussing with UBS authorities to try to obtain that list of Canadians who are on their list, who have (accounts in) tax havens abroad,” he told reporters.

“It’s not easy. If we realize that it won’t be possible to obtain it, if they just try to obtain time, we will go (to) court to obtain this list.”

Blackburn did not say at what point the government would end the talks with UBS and go to court.

Earlier this year a high-profile U.S. lawsuit against UBS AG prompted the bank to agree to promise to reveal the names of 4,450 client accounts held by Americans.

Offshore private banking involves managing the wealth of rich clients from a foreign location. Some have exploited the system to avoid paying taxes, especially if transactions are carried out in traditional banking secrecy strongholds.

Last month U.S. officials said some 14,700 rich Americans, worried about a crackdown on offshore tax cheats, had turned themselves in under a government amnesty program.

($1=$1.05 Canadian) (Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Peter Galloway) ((david.ljunggren@reuters.com; +1 613 235 6745; Reuters Messaging: david.ljunggren.reuters.com@reuters.net))