Tuesday, January 10, 2012

INTERNAL REVENUE ANNOUNCES NEW VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PROGRAMME

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it will reopen its Voluntary Disclosure Programme, which affords taxpayers the ability to disclose hidden offshore accounts, and avoid potential criminal penalties. The individuals who avail themselves of the programme must disclose the names of the financial institutions where they have been secreting their overseas assets, which is a valuable tool for US law enforcement agencies investigating foreign financial institutions that actively assist American taxpayers in evading the taxman. The most egregious offending banks have paid extremely high civil fines to settle their transgressions.

Amended tax returns must be filed that reflect the individuals' true income; some taxpayers may be eligible for a mere 5% penalty, but the maximum rate that will be levied has increased to 27.5%. Whether this new round of Voluntary Disclosure results in many additional banks being called to account for assisting Americans in hiding their cash is not known, but rest assured there will be some naming & shaming in the future.
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* More information will be made available at:    http://www.irs.gov/

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