Pursuing overseas tax evasion, the federal government has accounted for $5 billion

Pursuing overseas tax evasion, the federal government has accounted for $5 billion (Alberta Times) Since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began its surrender program in 2009, the IRS has...

Pursuit of overseas tax evasion nets federal government $5 billion (Alberta Times) Since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began its surrender program in 2009, the IRS has recovered more than $5 billion from overseas accounts. The IRS's surrender program requires U.S. citizens who use overseas accounts to evade taxes to provide their account information and pay back taxes, but can avoid jail time and reduce penalties. The first surrender scheme was launched in 2009 and the second in 2011. In January of this year, the IRS launched its third surrender program. The IRS announced on Tuesday that so far, 33,000 taxpayers have paid $5 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties through the first two surrender programs. The new surrender program announced in January this year has attracted 1,500 taxpayers and is expected to bring more money to the IRS. In January of this year, the IRS announced that it had received $4.4 billion from the first two surrender programs, which means that since January, the two surrender programs have received $600 million. The latest surrender program currently has no deadline, but can be closed at any time. Taxpayers who disclose foreign accounts must pay a penalty equal to 27.5% of the highest account balance in the past eight years. In 2011, the fine rate for the surrender scheme was 25%. For taxpayers with small accounts, the penalty interest rate is lower, ranging from 5% to 12.5%. The surrender program is now the same as before and taxpayers can avoid jail time. However, the current plan still requires tax evaders to pay back taxes, interest and overdue fees for up to eight years. Tax evaders who are unwilling to disclose foreign accounts risk jail time and a penalty rate of up to 50% if discovered by the IRS. If there is fraud, the penalty rate may be higher.