IRS Extends Deadline for Disclosing Hidden Offshore Accounts The Internal Revenue Service recently announced a one-time extension of the deadline for special disclosures for taxpayers with unreported income from hidden offshore accounts. Those taxpayers now have until October 15, 2009 to comply with the voluntary disclosure program requirements. Taxpayers who do not voluntarily disclose their hidden accounts by the new deadline face much harsher civil penalties, where applicable, and possilbe criminal prosecution.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE IRS, STATES AND CERTAIN CITIES FORM PARTNERSHIP TO SHARE INFORMATION The Internal Revenue Service has recently announced a top enforcement priority to combat the use of abusive tax avoidance schemes by high-income individuals and others. Casework will be coordinated and leads will be shared with the States. The IRS, states and certain cities will coordinate efforts to address common compliance concerns in the area of Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions (ATAT) by working in tandem and avoid repeating each other’s efforts. Abusive tax shelthers are frequently hidden through many layers of business transactions and money shifts. Each agency may have a few pieces of the puzzle but by working together, they can fit it all together for the benefits of taxpayers. The initial leads transferred to states involved scams using offshore transactions, abusive trusts, employee leasing, home-based businesses, employment taxes and other tax-avoidance schemes. The IRS, states and cities will subsequently share information on any resulting tax adjustments from audits allowing them to piggyback on the results of each other’s work. The process allows the agencies to leverage resources by greatly decreasing the possibility of two or even three tax agencies performing a lengthy examination of the same taxpayer.
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