New York Urges Taxpayers To Report Income From Offshore Bank Accounts
NYS Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program is Opportunity to Come Forward and Pay Back Taxes and Avoid Possible Criminal Prosecution
ALBANY, NY (10/08/2009)(readMedia)– New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward today announced that New York taxpayers who invested in offshore bank accounts or other offshore activity are required to report to the state Tax Department any changes in their taxable income resulting from a federal audit or from the filing of an amended federal return.
Former and current New York State residents should review their state tax returns to determine if they need to file amended returns to report this income.
Eligible New York taxpayers should also consider New York State’s Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance (VDC) Program. Under the VDC program, eligible taxpayers can avoid monetary penalties and possible criminal charges by disclosing what taxes they owe, paying the tax and entering into an agreement to pay all future taxes.
This urging comes on the heels of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) recent successful court battle and its aggressive action to force foreign financial institutions to disclose the names of taxpayers who currently have unreported offshore income or who previously had undisclosed foreign accounts or entities.
The IRS is currently offering a voluntary disclosure program for federal tax liabilities on unreported offshore income.
Taxpayers who participate in the federal program are required to file or amend their federal tax returns. The application deadline for federal leniency is October 15, 2009 and detailed information can be found on the IRS’ website at http://www.irs.gov.
New York taxpayers who participate in the IRS’ voluntary disclosure program and file or amend their federal tax returns are urged to report any changes made in their taxable income to New York State in a timely manner in order to avoid the possible penalties for failing to report federal changes.
The IRS and New York State have agreements to share information between the two agencies. Information received from federal amended returns and from foreign governments will ultimately be shared with New York State authorities.
The required forms and instructions on filing an amended New York tax return are available on the tax department’s website at http://www.tax.state.ny.us/forms/default.htm.
Information and an easy four-step application process for eligibility to New York State’s VDC Program are available online at http://www.tax.state.ny.us/e-services/vold/default.htm.
CPA4GPR 