IRS Changes Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program And Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures For Undisclosed Foreign Accounts

This alert concerns taxpayers with undisclosed foreign financial accounts and undisclosed foreign assets, as well as taxpayers participating in the Internal Revenue Service's Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) or Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (Streamlined).

On June 18, the IRS introduced significant changes to both OVDP and Streamlined. These changes again increase the volume and breadth of information requested by the IRS within OVDP and increase the penalties payable under OVDP in certain cases. The changes also, however, broaden the availability of Streamlined, especially for U.S.-resident taxpayers, and permit those already in OVDP who qualify for Streamlined to apply the Streamlined penalty to their OVDP matters instead of incurring the OVDP penalty in certain cases.