U.S. Seeks HSBC Customers’ Names as Part of Tax Inquiry

By LYNNLEY BROWNING
NYT

Switzerland. The Caribbean. India?

The world of offshore tax havens gained a surprising new contender on Thursday when the Justice Department asked a federal court for permission to force HSBC, the London-based bank, to turn over the names of wealthy Indian-American clients suspected of evading taxes through offshore accounts at the bank’s affiliate in India.

The request, from the civil tax division of the Justice Department, is part of a widening investigation into private offshore services sold by Swiss and Swiss-style banks that helped wealthy Americans avoid income taxes by hiding money offshore.

The lawsuit is an indication that the federal authorities are broadening their scrutiny to include countries and regions beyond tax havens like Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Singapore and much of the Caribbean. India is not usually thought of in that category and does not appear on lists compiled by research groups and government agencies.

(More here.)