(video via Whitehouse.gov)

Earlier today, President Obama announced his proposal to crack down on the individuals and the corporations who dodge their duty to pay taxes by hiding money in off-shore accounts, as well as the financial institutions who abet in such tax scams. Closing this loophole and making other long overdue tax reforms, President Obama estimated, will save taxpayers roughly $210 billion over the next 10 years.

In his own words...

Now, for years, we've talked about stopping Americans from illegally hiding their money overseas, and getting tough with the financial institutions that let them get away with it. The Treasury Department and the IRS, under Secretary Geithner's leadership and Commissioner Shulman's, are already taking far-reaching steps to catch overseas tax cheats -- but they need more support.

And that's why I'm asking Congress to pass some commonsense measures. One of these measures would let the IRS know how much income Americans are generating in overseas accounts by requiring overseas banks to provide 1099s for their American clients, just like Americans have to do for their bank accounts here in this country. If financial institutions won't cooperate with us, we will assume that they are sheltering money in tax havens, and act accordingly. And to ensure that the IRS has the tools it needs to enforce our laws, we're seeking to hire nearly 800 more IRS agents to detect and pursue American tax evaders abroad.

He also spoke more generally about the need to make our tax code fairer by getting rid tax incentives that hurt working American families, such as tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas.

Read his full remarks...