On June 22, 2016, UBS complied with a summons issued by the IRS and produced bank records regarding an account held by or on behalf of Ching-Ye Hsiaw. Account holder Hsiaw is under investigation by the IRS for failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. The IRS alleged that Hsiaw had transferred funds from a foreign account at UBS in Switzerland to UBS's Singapore branch in 2002. The IRS sought the records to determine Hsiaw's federal income tax liabilities for tax years 2006 through 2011.
UBS initially refused to turn over the account records. This led the Department of Justice to file a petition in federal district court to enforce the IRS administrative summons. The federal court had issued an order to show cause to UBS to explain why UBS should not be compelled to obey the summons. By producing the Singapore-based records responsive to the IRS's request, the Justice Department voluntarily dismissed its summons enforcement action against the bank.
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