Here are the steps that IRS examiners take before a taxpayer makes the irrevocable decision to opt out:
Some taxpayers may not need to use the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program or the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure options, but still may have a delinquent FBAR or Foreign Bank Account Report. FinCEN has established a procedure to address this problem.[1]
Opting out of the offshore voluntary disclosure program can be a difficult choice. An opt out is an irrevocable election made by a taxpayer to leave the safe harbor of the OVDP, and have his or her case handled under the standard audit process. This is different from removal, which is a determination made by IRS personnel to remove a taxpayer from the civil settlement structure of the OVDP because the taxpayer or taxpayer’s representative has not cooperated. The IRS has recognized that there are cases were opting out may be the better approach for the taxpayer. In these cases, the results under the OVDP are too severe given the facts of the actual case. If the violation was not willful and there is a low exposure for criminal penalties to the taxpayer, the standard audit procedure may result in a lower monetary penalty making opting out of the offshore voluntary disclosure program logical.
The Criminal Investigative unit is charged with assessing the penalty structure. The structure itself is nonnegotiable and the examiner lacks discretion to make any adjustments. The following is an example prepared by the IRS[1]:
Offshore Voluntary Disclosure – Interview with your examiner
If a taxpayer makes all the requisite disclosures and receives the preclearance then they must make their disclosure. Note these guidelines are subject to change. Consult the IRS’s website for the most recent OVDI procedures. [1] Under the IRS’s guidelines:
The precise procedures under the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure process are murky at best. They resemble loading a revolver and handing it to someone with an itchy trigger finger. As other countries and their foreign financial institution buckle to the pressures of FATCA, the value of self-disclosure is beginning to lose its luster to the federal investigators. The lack of precise protocols and standards can only be an indication of the fact that the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure rocess will have a short life as foreign compliance escalates and the Streamlined programs are taken advantage of those whose conduct was non-willful. Under the current regulations, what is in it for the taxpayer according to the IRS:
Eligibility: In order for non-residents U.S. taxpayers to be eligible to participate in the Streamlined Voluntary Disclosure for Non-Residents program they must:
The Title 26 miscellaneous offshore penalty is equal to 5 percent of the highest aggregate balance or value of the taxpayer’s foreign financial assets that are subject to the miscellaneous offshore penalty during the years in the covered tax return period and the covered FBAR period. For this purpose, the highest aggregate balance or value is determined by aggregating the year-end account balances and year-end asset values of all the foreign financial assets subject to the miscellaneous offshore penalty for each of the years in the covered tax return period and the covered FBAR period and selecting the highest aggregate balance/value from among those years.
In addition to having to meet the general eligibility criteria described above, individual U.S. taxpayers, or estates of individual U.S. taxpayers, seeking to use the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures described in this section must: