Tax Law Center Blog

The cost of compliance for many people is growing.  Those U.S. persons with bank accounts in foreign jurisdictions who have yet to come into compliance with U.S. tax filing requirements have very little time.  In addition to the increased amount of data being sent to the U.S., last week the US government announced that it added 47 more “facilitators” to a list of banks and institutions that trigger the higher 50-percent penalty under the OVDP.  As we have previously noted, the IRS has a series of voluntary disclosure programs and other options to come into compliance with U.S. filings, some of which can give rise to zero penalties.  The primary program imposes a penalty at 27.5% – with the higher 50% penalty being associated with the institutions and facilitators on the list.

The full list of banks on the OVDP penalty surcharge list is published on the IRS web site, where accounts trigger a 50% (rather than 27.5%) penalty (on all accounts, not just accounts at the listed banks) in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). According to the DOJ, taxpayers can avoid this higher penalty for the 47 new facilitators listed below, if they make a voluntary disclosure by November 15, 2016.

1. Bradley Birkenfeld (effective 11/15/16)
2. Renzo Gadola (effective 11/15/16)
3. Martin Lack (effective 11/15/16)
4. Christos Bagios (effective 11/15/16)
5. Joshua Vandyk (effective 11/15/16)
6. Eric St-Cyr (effective 11/15/16)
7. Patrick Poulin (effective 11/15/16)
8. Andreas Bachmann (effective 11/15/16)
9. Josef Dörig (effective 11/15/16)
10. David Kalai and Nadav Kalai (effective 11/15/16)
11. David Almog (effective 11/15/16)
12. Hansruedi Schumacher (effective 11/15/16)
13. Matthias Rickenbach (effective 11/15/16)
14. Cem Can (effective 11/15/16)
15. IPC Management Services, LLC (effective 11/15/16)
16. IPC Corporate Services Inc. (effective 11/15/16)
17. IPC Corporate Services LLC (effective 11/15/16)
18. Titan International Securities, Inc. (effective 11/15/16)
19. Legacy Global Markets S.A. (effective 11/15/16)
20. Unicorn International Securities LLC (effective 11/15/16)
21. Andrew Godfrey (effective 11/15/16)
22. Michael Little (effective 11/15/16)

• Edgar Paltzer (effective 11/15/16)

24. Peter Amrein (effective 11/15/16)

• Daniela Casadei (effective 11/15/16)

26. Fabio Frazzetto (effective 11/15/16)

• Michele Bergantino (effective 11/15/16)

28. Mario Staggl (effective 11/15/16)
29. Beda Singenberger (effective 11/15/16)

• Gian Gisler (effective 11/15/16)

31. Felix M. Mathis (effective 11/15/16)

• Michael Berlinka (effective 11/15/16)

33. Urs Frei (effective 11/15/16)

• Roger Keller (effective 11/15/16)

35. Josef Beck (effective 11/15/16)

• Hans Thomann (effective 11/15/16)

37. Stephan Fellmann (effective 11/15/16)

• Otto Huppi (effective 11/15/16)
• Christof Reist (effective 11/15/16)

40. Stefan Buck (effective 11/15/16)
41. Marco Parenti Adami (effective 11/15/16)
42. Emanuel Agustino (effective 11/15/16)

• Roger Schaerer (effective 11/15/16)

44. Markus Walder (effective 11/15/16)

• Susanne D. Rüegg Meier (effective 11/15/16)

46. Martin Dunki (effective 11/15/16)

• Robert Bandfield (effective 11/15/16)

The OVDP remains the safest program, with amnesty even for willful acts. But for those with the right facts, the IRS Streamlined program is simpler and less costly. 

US taxpayers considering an OVDP disclosure need to take professional tax advice as the IRS offers other disclosure routes. A competent tax attorney should work out the likely penalties under the different options and suggest which route to take.