Making Sense of the Options Available For U.S. Taxpayers with Undisclosed Foreign Financial Assets

Last week the Internal Revenue Service announced some major changes in its offshore voluntary compliance programs, providing new options to help both U.S. taxpayers residing overseas and those residing in the United States. The changes should provide thousands of people with new ways to come into compliance with their U.S. tax obligations.

The changes include an expansion of the streamlined filing compliance procedures announced in 2012 and important modifications to the 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). The expanded streamlined procedures are intended for U.S. taxpayers whose failure to disclose their offshore assets was non-willful.

The implementation of FATCA and the ongoing efforts of the IRS and the Department of Justice to ensure compliance by those with U.S. tax obligations have raised awareness of U.S. tax and information reporting obligations with respect to non-U.S. investments. Because the circumstances of taxpayers with non-U.S. investments vary widely, the IRS offers the following options for addressing previous failures to comply with U.S. tax and information return obligations with respect to those investments:

1. Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program;
2. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures;
3. Delinquent FBAR submission procedures; and
4. Delinquent international information return submission procedures.