IRS Seeks to boost Revenue: Introduces 2012 Voluntary Disclosure Program

There is nothing illegal with having a foreign account, but such accounts must be reported. While not every failure to report the existence of a foreign account is criminal, the IRS is seeking to claim they are willful. The willful penalty for failure to report a foreign bank account is 50% of the account value. Since the terms of the 2012 offshore voluntary disclosure program are much less than the 50% penalty, the program offers tax-payers quite possibly the best last chance to resolve their noncompliance.