The IRS Knows Where U.S. Offshore Tax Evaders Live And Bank!
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just released its report: “IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP): 2009 Participation by State and Location of Foreign Bank Accounts”. In this report the GAO studied the make-up of all 10,533 applicants to the IRS 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program which was open for enrollment during eight months in 2009.
California had the most participants in the 2009 OVDP (2,524 or 24%) followed by New York (1,844 or 18%) and then Florida (1,022 or 10%). Combined these three states make up 52% of all 2009 OVDP participants.
As for where these accounts are located, the top six countries are:
|
Country |
Number Of Applicants |
Percentage |
|
Switzerland |
5,427 |
42% |
|
United Kingdom |
1,058 |
8% |
|
Canada |
556 |
4% |
|
France |
528 |
4% |
|
Israel |
510 |
4% |
|
Germany |
484 |
4% |
Federal tax law requires U.S. taxpayers to pay taxes on all income earned worldwide. U.S. taxpayers must also report foreign financial accounts if the total value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. Willful failure to report a foreign account can result in a fine of up to 50% of the amount in the account at the time of the violation and may even result in the IRS filing criminal charges.
The IRS is giving taxpayers one last chance to come forward and voluntarily disclose foreign accounts and unreported foreign income before the IRS starts investigating non-compliant taxpayers.
If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law. Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.
Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.
Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.
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