The tax collection body is hiring and training hundreds of agents world-wide to pursue alleged US tax evaders. Tax attorneys and advisors in Hong Kong say they have been told the IRS plans to add several enforcement positions at the US consulate in Hong Kong, the publication said.

Hong Kong's light tax system exempts interest on bank deposits by individuals, and does not tax capital gains, attracting wealth individuals. For corporations, only Hong Kong-source income is taxed, and there is no estate or inheritance tax.

Battles by some countries' tax collectors to hunt down alleged tax evaders have led to diplomatic tensions. In Switzerland, for example, data stolen from banks has been offered for sale to governments in Germany, France and the UK, among others, prompting the Swiss governments to temporarily halt co-operation on tax information issues in the case of France. (In the latter case, co-operation has been restored). Meanwhile, UBS last year agreed to hand over up to 4,450 bank accounts to the IRS as part of a Swiss-US agreement that has been seen as a partial breach of Swiss bank secrecy.

In contrast to Switzerland, however, it is a not a criminal offence to disclose banking secrets and aiding and abetting tax evasion is treated as a crime in the jurisdiction.

The newspaper speculated that the disclosure by HSBC – which is listed in Hong Kong as well as London – that it had suffered theft of data on 24,000 Swiss-based bank accounts, could also encourage US tax inspectors to examine the Hong Kong financial sector.

As reported by WealthBriefing last week, new US legislation, called the HIRE Act, contains provisions which lawyers say will hurt US expats due to a sharp rise in the regulatory burden imposed by complying with IRS rules.