IRS TAKING AIM OFFSHORE

FOR THE IRS, the offshore world is alive and well with money stashed there by tax evaders. So they've come up with a "carrots and sticks" approach to the problem. Believing that there might be as much as $100 billion in unpaid taxes hidden in places like the Bahamas, Antigua, the Caymans and other havens, they've offered leniency to anyone who fesses up. But if they find you first, the penalty is criminal and severe, which can include both jail time and a loss of all the hidden assets in addition to further fines. In the meantime, some island governments are objecting. In the Caymans, for example, they claim --- the way the Swiss have for years --- that US tax evasion is not a crime on the island and, therefore, cooperation from the Cayman authorities is not on the table. In Antigua, with the Stanford case highlighting so many problems with offshore secrecy, cooperation is on the table, although the extent of it remains to be seen.