If you’ve been hiding funds in offshore accounts, you now have until Oct. 15 to apply to the IRS for amnesty and avoid stiffer penalties. That’s an additional 22 days from the original deadline of Sept. 23. So far, the amnesty program in 2009 has enticed 3,000 taxpayers to voluntarily admit they were hiding funds offshore. That’s a huge crowd compared to the 90 who filed for amnesty in 2008.
The primary reason people are coming forward is likely that the IRS began prosecutions in 2009; so far, two UBS (UBS) bankers, five of UBS’s U.S. clients, a Liechtensteiner adviser, a Swiss lawyer and a manager at Zurich-based Neue Zuercher Bank are facing prosecution. UBS paid the U.S. government $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution in February, and turned over about 250 names to get the ball rolling. Based on an agreement reached with the U.S. in August, UBS will soon turn over 4,450 more client names.
People can only get amnesty if they apply voluntarily before the IRS gets their names. So for those holding out to see if their name will be on the list, by the time you find out, it could be too late.
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