Sep. 21, 2009 (United Press International) -- A government official said the IRS will extend amnesty until Oct. 22 for U.S. tax evaders with overseas accounts who hope to avoid prosecution.

The original deadline for those with hidden assets overseas to voluntarily step forward to avoid prosecution was Wednesday, Sept. 23, The New York Times reported Monday.

The deadline was set after Swiss bank UBS (NYSE:UBS) said it would reveal the names of 4,450 U.S. clients with assets hidden from the IRS. The bank paid a $780 million fine after admitting it helped U.S. clients hide assets from the Internal Revenue Service.

Since the settlement, the Justice Department has been pushing the bank to reveal names of account holders who are suspected of secreting funds from the IRS. To date, 3,000 taxpayers have stepped forward to take part in the amnesty program, the Times said.