Ireland aims to scoop €40m from offshore accounts

(Herald): The Irish government hopes to collect up to €40m in unpaid tax after special investigations into offshore accounts. Tax officials are on the trail of 1,133 cases in the Cayman Islands, Jersey, Switzerland and Liechtenstein where trusts and offshore structures may have been used to conceal funds.A total of €20m has already been collected in voluntary disclosures and settlements from 100 cases after Ireland’s Revenue gave taxpayers who had undeclared funds an opportunity to make a voluntary disclosure by September 2009. Preliminary investigations have revealed that most offshore trusts were facilitated by third parties such as fund managers, investment advisers and tax consultants.