The IRS's Hard Line on Offshore Compliance

Recent Developments Encourage Voluntary Disclosure

Michael Sardar, JD

For decades, the IRS has pursued U.S. taxpayers who maintain hidden offshore income and assets. Until recently, most tax professionals would have agreed that the IRS's success in the area of offshore tax evasion was limited at best. The IRS has greatly ramped up its offshore compliance efforts over the past eight years. For the most part, these efforts have been met with success. Yet some taxpayers continue to maintain unreported foreign assets hoping to get away with noncompliance, or hoping that they will face no repercussions when they get caught. In reality, the IRS is becoming more skilled at discovering offshore non-compliance, and it has made it clear that the price of noncompliance will go up.