On Monday, January 24th, the Internal Revenue Service said that it would soon announce a new amnesty program aimed at encouraging wealthy Americans with hidden offshore bank accounts to come forward, declare their money and pay taxes owed. An I.R.S. spokesman, Frank Keith, said that the program would be formally announced “very shortly” and would not offer terms as generous as those put forth in a similar program last fall. Under the previous program, taxpayers who came forward before October 15. 2009, were subject to a reduced penalty for the failure to file necessary information reports. Pursuant to the terms of the program, the penalty was 5% or to 20% of the highest value of the account, depending in part on whether their wealth was inherited.
Former IRS Tax Attorneys at Holtz Slavett & Drabkin are available to assist you with your offshore account tax issues and may be reached at (310) 550-6200.
Author: Igor S. Drabkin, J.D., Former IRS Attorney.
Copyright (c) 2011 Igor S. Drabkin. All Rights Reserved.