Last Chance for US Taxpayers With Undisclosed Accounts to Come Forward

If you have an undisclosed offshore bank account, you are running out of time to avoid penalties for failure to report the account. The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) allows you to come forward voluntarily to provide information to the government on foreign sources of income and pay penalties up to 27.5 percent. However, the rules are changing and if you do not act by August 3, 2014, then the minimum penalties will be increased from 27.5 to 50 percent.  

You do not want to lose half of the money in offshore accounts just because you miss the deadline by a few days. You need to contact a IRS voluntary disclosure lawyer today to get started and become a part of the OVDP program before it is too late.  

Now is the Time to Contact a Tax Law Firm For Help with OVDP

If you have a foreign offshore account and you have not declared it to the IRS as required, you may wish to become part of the OVDP. If you enter this voluntary disclosure program, the IRS will not pursue charges of criminal tax evasion against you. If you are found guilty of criminal tax evasion, you may go to jail and you will have a felony on your record. 

The IRS will also forego other penalties including fraud penalties equal to up to 75 percent of the unpaid tax; as well as a penalty of the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the foreign account balance for failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank Account and Financial Accounts Report (FBAR).  

The OVDP program is available to you only if your Swiss bank does not report your accounts to the IRS before you make a voluntary disclosure.  Numerous banks are currently under investigation by the Department of Justice including UBS AG; various branches of Credit Suisse; CIBC First Caribbean Bank and its subsidiaries; and The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited.   

The IRS has significantly increased its enforcement efforts and is obtaining information from these banks regarding communications between taxpayers and bank officials. The communications may provide evidence for the IRS to prove you acted willfully and should face not only the maximum in civil penalties but also potential criminal prosecution. 

 Don’t wait for your bank to provide information to the IRS that could be used against you. You need to act and you should contact Thorn Law Group, an experienced tax law firm for help today. 

Penalties Increase by August 3, 2014

The OVDP current penalty rate of 27.5 percent is available only to taxpayers who come forward before August 3, 2014. In mid-June, the IRS announced that the OVDP penalty rate would be going up to 50 percent for all new OVDP submissions made after this date. 

While you could still avoid the risk of criminal prosecution by coming forward later, you will lose a lot more of your money in penalties and fees. Don’t count on the IRS not catching you because they probably will as they investigate more banks and take steps to pressure the banks to cooperate. 

Now is the time to protect yourself and to limit your penalties- call a IRS voluntary disclosure lawyer at Thorn Law Group today before it is too late. 

For a consultation, contact Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner, at ket@thornlawgroup.com or (617) 692-2989