Dodging Taxes Through Offshore Banks? You're Not Off the Hook
- IRS says it will end voluntary disclosure program in September
- Agency has other tools now to go after evaders, lawyer says
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The Internal Revenue Service is winding down its program to entice wealthy Americans who hid money offshore to come forward and take an amnesty deal -- but if you’re a tax dodger, or simply clueless, don’t think you’ve been spared.
The agency said that it would end its so-called “voluntary disclosure” program at the end of September. Since the earliest version of the program started in 2009, more than 56,000 U.S. taxpayers disclosed their accounts voluntarily to avoid potential prosecution. They paid $11.1 billion in back taxes, interest and often-hefty penalties for hiding money in Swiss and other foreign banks.