IRS Extends Amensty Program for Taxes Not Paid on Foriegn Accounts

As previously noted, the IRS recently offered a six-month amnesty program during which tax evaders who have hidden funds in off-shore accounts discolse and pay the evaded taxes.

The IRS has extended this amnesty program.  Below is the applicable extension provision taken from IRS Notice 2009-62, published in IRS Bulletin 2009-35, Aug. 31, 2009:

In light of the additional time needed for the Department of the Treasury to address issues pertaining to FBAR [the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts] filing requirements and the need to provide administrative relief for (i) persons with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, a foreign financial account, and (ii) persons with a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a foreign commingled fund, this notice provides that those persons have until June 30, 2010, to file an FBAR for the 2008 and earlier calendar years with respect to these foreign financial accounts. Thus, eligible persons that avail themselves of the administrative relief provided in this notice may need to file FBARs for the 2008, 2009 and earlier calendar years on or before June 30, 2010, to the extent provided in future guidance.

The FBAR filing extension provided by this notice applies to FBARs with respect to 2008 and earlier calendar years. For (i) persons with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, a foreign financial account, and (ii) persons with a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a foreign commingled fund, the FBAR filing extension provided in this notice supplements the filing extension to September 23, 2009, previously provided by the IRS on its public website.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.