The IRS announced today that it was going to end the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) by September 28, 2018.  The Service is giving taxpayers just over six months’ notice of the program closure to allow any taxpayers who wish to do so the opportunity to take advantage of the program before then.

The current program has been in place since 2014 and is, actually, a modified version of the one that was originally launched in 2012.  The programs have afforded taxpayers to voluntarily resolve past non-compliance issues related to unreported foreign financial assets, as well as failures to file foreign information returns. 

The IRS plans to continue pursuing offshore tax avoidance through other means, including such tools as taxpayer education. 

While the IRS has said in the past that it may also end another similar program, Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, they have not yet made any mention of that and, in fact, have stated that this program will remain in place and will continue to be available to eligible taxpayers. 

For information on all options currently available to US taxpayers to come clean with their reporting of undisclosed foreign financial assets, visit the IRS website here.

For questions on this, or other tax related issues, contact the tax professionals at Zinner & Co. LLP at www.zinnerco.com, or by e-mail at info@zinnerco.com.