On April 13, 2011, Josephine Bhasin, a U.S. taxpayer with an offshore account held with HSBC pled guilty to charges of willingly filing false tax returns, false amended tax returns, and false FBARs.  Ms. Bhasin of Huntington, NY, maintained approximately $8.3 mil. in her HSBC account during 2008. The HSBC account holder will receive a maximum sentence of 3 years in jail and a maximum fine of $250,000. These criminal penalties are in addition to civil penalties, which Ms. Bhasin has agreed to; the arrangement includes a civil penalty of 50% of the high year on the account during 2004 to 2009.

Time running out for Credit Suisse undisclosed account holders!

A California Federal Judge signed an Order on April 7, 2011, giving the Internal Revenue Service the right to serve a summons on HSBC USA.  The summons would provide the government with the identity of current taxpayers whose accounts are already in question.

On April 7, 2011, the DOJ announced that the government has expanded its focus to include undisclosed foreign bank accounts with HSBC. The government has reason to believe that many unnamed taxpayers have been investing with HSBC India through HSBC USA in order to evade taxes.

The IRS’s New Amnesty Program can help individuals with undisclosed accounts avoid incarceration but the program expires on August 31, 2011.  I believe this is the perfect time for taxpayers with undisclosed accounts to take advantage of the IRS’s New Amnesty Program for undisclosed offshore accounts.