Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is condemning a U.S. law aimed at cracking down on wealthy tax evaders but that has now raised concerns among many Canadians who have dual citizenship.

The U.S. government is trying to target tax evaders, who are hiding large amounts of money in foreign bank accounts.

The Internal Revenue Service has set up the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative to get American citizens who have offshore bank accounts to disclose that income before stiffer penalties come into force.

The U.S. program is being criticized as unnecessary by Canada’s finance minister.

Flaherty said Canada already has income tax treaties with the United States, and this latest initiative is going to be a bureaucratic burden.

"What they're doing potentially is creating a lot of paperwork that won't result in achieving the goal, which is to eliminate tax evasion.” Flaherty said.

These new IRS rules also apply to people with dual citizenship, including the many New Brunswickers who were born in hospitals in Maine but have lived in New Brunswick for their entire lives.

Peggy Riley, a spokeswoman for the IRS in New England, a region where three states share borders with Canada, said she had never heard of Canadians born across the border in U.S. hospitals or how the policy might affect them.

“I am not familiar with that. I really can't answer that,” she said.

IRS penalties

The IRS said if these dual citizens don't file tax returns and pay a portion of what they owe, the IRS could come after them.

The IRS has set up the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative, which is giving those who have broken the law, knowingly or not, a reprieve.

Christopher McLoon, a lawyer in Portland, Me., who specializes in cross-border tax issues, said during an interview in August that many Americans who live in Canada and have dual citizenship are likely breaking the law unknowingly.

Approved applicants had until Aug. 31 to file taxes voluntarily in exchange for less severe civil penalties.

The chances of the IRS catching those who don't voluntarily file will go up in 2013 when a law requiring Canadian banks to share client information with the U.S. government takes effect.

Anyone convicted of criminal tax evasion could face a prison term of up to five years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Canada’s finance minister said the initiative will create a lot of work for dual citizens in Canada, which is not a prime location for tax evaders.

“The Americans are trying to target places in the world that house a lot of tax evaders, and that's not Canada. This is not a tax haven,” Flaherty said.