Tax Law Center Blog

Last we spoke at a SABANA tax section bar association educational panel “The U.S. Government’s Global Crackdown on Tax Evasion: Where It Has Been and Where It Is Going” for attorneys in Orlando FL. Fellow panelists included Nanette Davis (US Department of Justice Tax senior litigation counsel), Forrest Knorr (IRS Director, International Field Operations, West International Operations Criminal Investigation Division), Parag Patel (Patel Law Offices), and Jay Nanavati (counsel BakerHostetler).

A few interesting observations are below:

1. Nanette Davis echoed earlier comments made at the NYU conference earlier in the month regarding some details of the US DOJ Program for Swiss Banks. She said that the information received from US DOJ Program for Swiss Banks and OVDP will lead to new prosecutions. Davis said that the government is comparing records from the Swiss bank program with OVDP filings and streamlined program certifications of non-willfulness and will likely prosecute some willful taxpayers.
2. Davis said that the government is exploring other jurisdictions and new John Doe summons may be issued, and specifically noted that some parts of Asia may be explored.
3. Forrest Knorr described in detail the IRS expansive network of IRS global operations in dozens of countries.

We discussed in detail the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), which is specifically designed for taxpayers with exposure to potential criminal liability and/or substantial civil penalties due to a willful failure to report foreign financial assets and pay all tax due in respect of those assets. The OVDP generally provides protection from criminal liability and fixed terms for resolving their civil tax and penalty obligations. Presentation materials can be found here: Navigating Foreign Waters- Discussion on the U.S. Laws for Foreign Accounts Compliance SABANA seminar.

Also discussed were the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, which are available to taxpayers certifying that their failure to report foreign financial assets did not result from willful conduct. The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures are available to both U.S. individual taxpayers residing outside of the United States and U.S. individual taxpayers residing in the United States.