Offshore Accounts? IRS is Watching

By: Michelle Cohen

If you have unreported income from offshore accounts, now may be the best time to come forward and report those earnings; otherwise, you may be susceptible to criminal prosecution.

The IRS initially began this open-ended Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) in 2009 and later renewed it in 2011. Due to strong interest from previous years, the IRS rolled the 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program back out in January. This program provides a way for taxpayers to come forward voluntarily and report their previously undisclosed foreign accounts and assets. The program is designed to resolve an inordinate amount of cases without the IRS having to take the time to conduct independent, thorough investigations of alleged tax fraudsters.

Despite the name, and unlike its predecessors, the 2012 OVDP has no set deadline for taxpayers to apply. However, citizens should be cognizant of the fact that the IRS can change the terms at any given time. For example, the program’s tax penalty could increase, or worse – the program could completely end without any notice, leaving taxpayers as fair game for IRS crosshairs. Those choosing to not report their offshore assets could be prosecuted under the fraud penalty and foreign information return penalties, in addition to increasing their risk of criminal prosecution.

Additional and possible criminal charges that could stem from undisclosed tax returns include tax evasion, filing a false return and failure to file an income tax return. A person convicted of tax evasion is subject to a prison term of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000. Taxpayers should understand that the likelihood of undisclosed offshore accounts being found is increasing through information available to the IRS by tax treaties, information from whistleblowers and more revealing information by way of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which we’ve blogged on before.

Citizens are wising up and taking advantage of the program. Since 2013, more than 39,000 citizens have utilized OVDP and disclosed unreported earnings. This has netted over $5.5 billion in recovered tax revenues for the IRS.

A few citizens, such as Ty Warner, have ignored the ODVP. The creator of Beanie Babies saw this enforcement first hand when the IRS came knocking on his door, alleging that he hid a secret offshore bank account. In September 2013, a federal court in Chicago issued tax evasion charges against Warner. The court fined Warner a civil fine of $53 million and he was sentenced to two years of probation. Additionally, Warner paid $14 million in back taxes.

While some citizens will surely be tempted to allow their offshore earnings go unreported, we are here to tell you that decision (and risk) may come at a high price.