US Offshore Voluntary Compliance Initiative Uncovers $170 Million

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

12 February 2004

The US Internal Revenue Service announced this week that it collected $170 million in unpaid tax and penalties as a result of its Offshore Voluntary Compliance Initiative (OVCI) last year, which allowed delinquent taxpayers to put their tax affairs into order.

Under the three month OVCI, more than 1,300 taxpayers came forward, amended their returns, paid taxes, interest and penalties and furnished the IRS with information regarding the person who promoted the offshore arrangements to them.

The initiative ran from January 14 to April 15, 2003, and allowed eligible taxpayers to avoid criminal prosecution and some penalties.

According to the IRS, some 479 promoters of tax schemes were identified during the course of the partial amnesty, half of whom were previously unknown to the tax agency.

Separately, IRS officials announced on Tuesday that they have started sharing leads on more than 20,000 taxpayers engaged in abusive tax avoidance with tax agencies in 45 states, the District of Columbia and New York City.

The sharing of leads was the first large transfer of information under the terms of the new IRS-state partnership which was unveiled in September.

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