In an effort to keep the doors open for foreign bank account holders wary of criminal prosecution, the IRS has extended the deadline for voluntary disclosure from September 23rd to October 15th, giving taxpayers an extra 2.5 weeks to come clean about their undeclared income.

If you have undeclared funds in foreign bank accounts, now is the time to act in order to reduce your chances of criminal prosecution and to work out an affordable tax resolution payment plan.

More than 3,000 taxpayers have already come forward this year, compared to only 88 from last year. Much of this can be attributed to the original deadline of Wednesday, September 23rd. However, due to the large amount phone calls from taxpayers and tax attorneys asking for more time, the IRS decided to give everyone a break.

According to Laura Saunders of the Wall Street Journal, “This year’s program has received outsize attention thanks to a dispute between the U.S. and Swiss governments over the identities of U.S. taxpayers holding at least $10 billion in some 52,000 secret accounts at UBS. In a comprehensive settlement in August, the Swiss government agreed to identify at least 4,450 more UBS account holders and possibly many from other banks. Attorneys say they have been inundated with calls from clients. Recently many more have decided to confess, say attorneys. Bryan Skarlatos, an attorney with Kostelanetz & Fink in New York, says his firm is handling more than 250 disclosures.”

Anyone who steps forward will significantly reduce their chances of criminal prosecution. Many of the people who have confessed to undeclared income will face IRS penalties and interests on their back taxes up to 40% to 60% of their total account balance (this does not include legal and accounting fees). You can save a lot of money by being proactive about disclosing your foreign funds–call a tax attorney for tax help if you are unsure of how to proceed in your best interest.

For those who think that they may be able to get away undetected is taking a larger-than-life gamble. It’s not worth the IRS tax trouble to try and escape under the radar. Contact a professional tax attorney or tax resolution specialist today if you believe that you owe back taxes on your foreign accounts.

It’s important for foreign bank account holders to take advantage of this deadline extension to sort out their tax problems and come forward before UBS reveals their names to the IRS. Act now before it’s too late!

Learn more about your legal FBAR obligations.

I help people resolve their tax problems every day–big or small. Contact our team of experts for a free consultation. Call us at 866-IRS-PROBLEMS (1-866-477-7762) or visit our website at www.TaxResolution.com

More Tax Help, IRS News and Tax Relief Tips:

1. $80,000 in Back Taxes Took “Miracle Met” Jerry Koosman to Jail
2. Tax Help For Offshore Account Holders as Swiss Government Seeks to Salvage UBS Agreement
3. Tax Help News: IRS Enforcement to Get Priority, Big Bucks in 2010
4. Tax Help: How to Resolve Your Back Taxes & Prevent Tax Problems If You’re Short on Cash This Season
5. IRS Tax Help From Tax Expert: What Individuals and Businesses Need to Know to Avoid Tax Problems

Tags: amnesty period, Back Taxes, delinquent taxes, FBAR, IRS debt, Michael Rozbruch, substitute for return, tax attorney, tax evasion, tax relief, tax resolution

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 3:35 pm and is filed under Back Taxes, IRS help, Tax news and tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.