The IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) allows taxpayers the opportunity to come forward and disclose offshore accounts that they may not have previously reported to the Internal Revenue Service as required.  Those who come forward may avoid criminal prosecution and avoid the harsh penalties that they could otherwise face if the government discovers the account before a disclosure is made.

Since 2009, the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) has made it possible for more than 45,000 taxpayers to declare offshore foreign accounts that they had failed to disclose in the past.  The OVDP was designed to reduce penalties that would be associated with a failure to disclose a foreign account.  Unfortunately, the program was very limited and many people who wanted to take advantage of it were unable to do so. 

In an effort to crack down on tax evasion, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service require U.S. persons with foreign bank accounts to complete Form TD F 90-22.1. This form is more commonly referred to as FBAR, short for Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.  A failure to file can result in penalties of 50 percent of the high account balance. 

On May 28, 2014, a Federal District Court Jury in Florida awarded FBAR penalties amounting to $2,241,809 to the U.S. government for a man’s failure to disclose an offshore account that had a high balance of $1,691,054 during the years that the account was not in compliance with information reporting requirements. This FBAR penalty is equivalent to 150% of the highest account value in the undeclared foreign bank account.

American Taxpayers with undisclosed foreign accounts may soon have their account information given  to the United States Government, because Credit Suisse has agreed to pay over 2.6 billion dollars in fines to the U.S. Government, and has also pleaded guilty to various illegal financial activity.  Because of this landmark case, other foreign banks may now enter into plea agreements with the U.S. Government.