BUSINESS BRIEFING / TAXES

The IRS is ratcheting up the pressure on Americans who kept secret Swiss bank accounts, giving them six months to come clean and cough up any evidence against their advisors or bankers.

Tax lawyers said demands for information and evidence had risen sharply since the government sued Swiss banking giant UBS to try to get the names of thousands of U.S. citizens who may have dodged taxes through Swiss accounts.

Putting the squeeze on rich Americans who hid their wealth, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman laid out a six-month window for those with secret offshore accounts to come clean under specific terms and penalties.