IRS: $2.2 Billion Collected From Offshore Tax Evaders Who Came Clean

The IRS announced that it continues to make “strong progress” in their efforts to fight international tax evasion and has recieved up to 30,000 voluntary disclosures since 2009.

“By any measure, we are in the middle of an unprecedented period for our global international tax enforcement efforts,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “We have pierced international bank secrecy laws, and we are making a serious dent in offshore tax evasion.”

The IRS said that global tax enforcement is a top priority, and Shulman noted progress on multiple fronts, including ground-breaking international tax agreements and increased cooperation with other governments. In addition, the IRS and Justice Department have increased efforts involving criminal investigation of international tax evasion.

The combination of efforts helped support the 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI), which ended on September 9. The 2011 effort followed the strong response to the 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) that ended on October 15, 2009. The programs gave U.S.taxpayers with undisclosed assets or income offshore a second chance to get compliant with the U.S. tax system, pay their fair share and avoid potential criminal charges.

For the 2009 program, the IRS has collected $2.2 billion from people in who voluntarily disclosed that they had money in offshore accounts across 140 countries - for closures in about 80 percent of the cases.

The IRS also collected an additional $500 million in taxes and interest as down payment for the 2011 program, a number that will go up after penalties are assessed.

“My goal all along was to get people back into the U.S. tax system,” Shulman said. “Not only are we bringing people back into the U.S. tax system, we are bringing revenue into the U.S. Treasury and turning the tide against offshore tax evasion.”