Offshore Disclosure
Ensuring compliance for clients with offshore assets
If you have offshore accounts, proper reporting to the IRS is crucial, not only to protect your funds, but also to avoid potentially severe monetary and criminal penalties. Raines & Fischer can help make sure you are in compliance.
Ensuring compliance in your offshore accounts
Offshore investing has long been a way for American residents to hide foreign accounts and assets. In light of this, the Internal Revenue Service has been scrutinizing investors and putting treaties in place with other countries to identify investors who use offshore accounts to hide income. This has resulted in an increase in detection of offenders who face severe civil and criminal penalties.
At this time, the IRS is offering people with undisclosed income from offshore accounts an opportunity to get current with their tax returns and all required disclosures. The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) offers clear benefits that encourage taxpayers to disclose foreign accounts now, rather than risk detection by the IRS and possible criminal prosecution. Raines & Fischer can review your investments and filings, and help bring you into compliance under the OVDP, should it be needed.
Services to achieve compliance with the OVDP include:
- Analysis of your offshore assets to determine amount of unreported income
- Filing of amended federal and, if required, state tax returns for past years to report income generated by offshore assets
- Filing of amended Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
- Recommendation of attorneys who specialize in representation of clients facing IRS investigation of offshore assets
