Revenue Canada amnesty nets thousands

Eighty-four Canadian tax evaders who were clients of Swiss bank UBS have come forward to settle their tax debts, the Canadian Revenue Agency told CBC News Tuesday.

UBS agreed earlier this year to disclose the names of people believed to be hiding income.

Forty-one of the Canadian clients have settled with the agency for taxes owing on a total of $15.2 million in previously unreported income.

Canada has a program of voluntary disclosure where taxpayers pay tax owing and interest. Under that program, 2,535 Canadians have disclosed offshore income in the last seven months. Of these, 1,432 files have been fully processed so far, identifying $542.3 million in unreported income.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service also announced Tuesday that more than 14,700 U.S. tax evaders had come forward to settle their tax debts under an amnesty that expired Oct. 15.

They held offshore accounts in 70 foreign countries, IRS commissioner Doug Shulman said, amounting to tax proceeds of billions of dollars. 

The voluntary disclosure program follows a U.S. crackdown on offshore tax havens.