IRS Called Easy on Criminal Tax Evaders in Watchdog’s Critique

Criminal tax evaders have an easier time coming clean with the Internal Revenue Service than those who didn’t intend to hide money from U.S. authorities, according to Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate.

U.S. citizens who purposefully stashed money offshore can come forward, pay a set fee to the IRS and avoid criminal prosecution. The situation is more complicated for persons who unintentionally shielded assets from the U.S. They might learn that they could owe the IRS less if they backed out of the so-called voluntary disclosure program. That, in turn, could trigger an examination that might be more strenuous than if they participated in the disclosure initiative, Olson says.