Date: 01/29/12
Topic: Foreign Accounts
There’s good news and bad news for taxpayers hiding assets from the IRS in foreign accounts or for taxpayers that have previously undisclosed / reported for tax purposes, foreign income generating assets.
The good news: the penalties are less if a taxpayer “comes clean” with the IRS voluntarily, and the IRS just reopened its “Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program” (OVDP).
The IRS is affording the tax evader opportunity to repent. In the words of the IRS Commissioner, “People need to come in and get right with us before we [the IRS] find you,” because “we are following more leads and the risk for people who do not come in continues to increase.”
More good news: Our office can help. For more information on disclosing both foreign and domestic income tax evasion voluntarily thus avoiding the risk of criminal prosecution,
For International and DomesticTax Evasion see:
- FBAR Compliance and Disclosure
- FBAR Compliance and Disclosure FAQ
- Steps to Participate in the 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative Program
For purely Domestic Tax Evasion see:
The bad: The FBAR penalty of the previous 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program has been raised from 25% to 27.5%. However, some tax evaders – those with less than $75,000 in offshore assets or inherited accounts that they have taken no action in regards to – may still qualify for the 2011 OVDI program’s penalty at a lower level, either 5% or 12.5%. The current program has no scheduled end date but the penalties are expected to continue to increase over time. Don’t delay – contact our office today!
The number one reason why a tax evader would want to “come clean” through this program is because if the IRS finds a taxpayer before her or she comes forward voluntarily, he or she will surely be in a world of hurt, facing draconian penalties often in a multiple of the value of the offshore asset and the very real possibility of criminal prosecution.
