IRS reopens offshore disclosure program

{mosads}The new program, while similar to its predecessors, has tougher penalties. The IRS has said in the past that taxpayers should not be rewarded for deciding not to take part in previous offshore disclosure programs.

Taxpayers taking part in the 2012 initiative will generally owe a penalty of up to 27.5 percent on the highest amount of offshore assets kept in any one year of the previous eight.

Individuals also must file returns and pay back taxes, plus interest, for up to eight previous years, while some program participants will be eligible to pay penalties of 5 percent or 12.5 percent.

The top penalties in the 2009 and 2011 program were 20 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Some participants those years paid the smaller penalties included in the current program.

The IRS said Monday that, unlike in the previous two programs, the 2012 edition will not have a set deadline, and the agency will also be able to change the terms of the initiative at any point.

In all, the IRS says the 2009 program collected some $3.4 billion, while the 2011 edition has raked in $1 billion so far, with additional processing still ongoing. The previous two programs attracted about 33,000 separate disclosures.