On March 13, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it will begin ramping down the current Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) and urged taxpayers with undisclosed foreign assets to apply for the program prior to its close on September 28, 2018. We have previously reported on developments in the OVDP.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently modified the non-willfulness certification form that individual taxpayers must submit to enroll in the streamlined filing compliance procedures (SFCP). One requirement under the SFCP is that that the taxpayer certify that his or her failure to disclose foreign assets was not due to willful conduct. Before the recent change, the IRS only provided minimal direction, which caused it to receive non-willfulness narratives that did not provide adequate information. This resulted in certifications that were either questioned or rejected.
On February 16, 2016, the IRS revised the certification forms to include more robust direction and instructed the taxpayer to draft his or her non-willfulness narrative to include the whole story including favorable and unfavorable facts. A more detailed analysis of the recent changes can be found here.
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