Sen. Levin Sets New Hearing on Offshore Evasion; GAO Reports on Voluntary Disclosure

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations announced its plans for a new hearing on offshore tax evasion. The Government Accountability Office recently release data showing that in 2009, 42 percent of offshore accounts reported through the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program were in Switzerland. Results organized by state show 24 percent of the tax returns filed by participants had return mailing addresses in California, 18 percent had them in New York, and 10 percent had them in Florida.

Private Wealth Partner Kevin Packman said he wasn't surprised that California, Florida, and New York were the top states for participants in the program, in part because of their large populations of immigrants.

"It also shows in my opinion that a great number of participants are probably those that the Taxpayer Advocate references in her annual reports," he said. "These are individuals who did not do anything intentionally wrong."

READ: Sen. Levin Sets New Hearing on Offshore Evasion; GAO Reports on Voluntary Disclosure (subscription required)