If you have offshore financial activity, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) asks that you come forward with voluntary disclosure of this information. Taxes are required to be paid on the activity and coming to the IRS voluntarily eases much of the pain on both sides to get the taxes paid and the matter closed. This is done through the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program that the IRS offers each year. Yet, many choose to not participate with dire consequences once the IRS begins to examine them.
Detailed Examination
Whether you participate in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program or not, you will have your offshore financial activity looked at. The difference is how the IRS approaches it. It can be extremely in depth when you try to avoid letting the IRS know of your financial activity.
Stepping forward and filling out all the paperwork for the voluntary disclosure program gives the appearance of not hiding something or avoiding the IRS. You initiate the disclosure and the examination is much easier. The IRS does not start the process with the mindset that you are avoiding taxes. They see you as working with them. This makes working with the IRS much easier as they like voluntary disclosure.
If you avoid the IRS voluntary disclosure and don't take advantage of this opportunity that they are giving you, then you give the appearance of hiding from the IRS. This causes you to fall under their microscope which has a very high magnification. If they think you are hiding things, they will dig deeper and question transactions more closely. Basically, you will be audited and it will not be an easy one.
The IRS will expect you to have all your paperwork together and be prepared to answer all questions. It would have been much better to go through the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program and much less painful.
Extremely High Penalties
Yes, you will have to pay the IRS even if you go through the voluntary disclosure program. Benjamin Franklin assured us that taxes can't be avoided just as death can't be. They have to be paid, but what you have to pay if you don't come forward on your own will amaze you if not make you sick to your stomach.
Not filing a TD F 90-22 could result with a minimum of $10,000 being applied against you. Other forms not filed could result in $50,000 and $100,000 being charged. This is per violation and not just a flat fee. Miss more than one form and you have a number that grows by leaps and bounds. Add all these up and you could be in debt to the IRS for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Compare this to the taxes you would have paid under the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. They would have been a small fraction of these extremely high amounts.
Criminal Charges
You could be faced with criminal charges if you do not file a return or even file a false one. Avoiding the voluntary disclosure program could have you charged with tax evasion. This could give you five years in prison in addition to more penalties. It begins to add up quickly.
File a false return and get three years. Don't file a return and get at least one year in prison. The IRS doesn't take these things lightly. All these criminal charges also come with monetary fines.
Not participating in the voluntary disclosure program has high chances of you becoming a felon. This is one gamble no one should really take. Having a felony on your record can change your life and not for the better. So much will be at arm's length to you once you have been convicted as a felon.
Needing Help
If you do find yourself in a situation where you avoided the chance the IRS gave you through the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, you don't want to face it alone. You want expert help that knows the process and has experience working with the IRS.
Never feel like you have to face the IRS by yourself.
Get the expert help that http://www.tax-relief-debt.com/ offers. They can offer you the advice you need.
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