Story on IRS Voluntary Disclosures #OVDP Results to Air May 14th on @NPRs “All Things Considered”

59 thoughts on “Story on IRS Voluntary Disclosures #OVDP Results to Air May 14th on @NPRs “All Things Considered””

1. @just me

   Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall of Jim Jatras’s office right now?

   Steve Miller, Take the Money and Run…
   

2. @Bubblebustin

   Problem is that the Steve Miller Band plays on …

3. David Kestenbaum sent me this comment on his story that was not shown in the comments on the web site…

   I just wanted to comment on the story about offshore assets. I was really happy to hear you covering this issue since it has also affected my family personally. Much like the New Zealand resident you spoke with, my parents, who worked hard as doctors in the US for over 25 years, were living abroad from 2005-2009. Like him, my parents were unaware that they had to declare their foreign account and pay taxes on the income from that account, since they were already paying taxes on the income in the country where they resided. They had even consulted with a tax attorney before moving abroad, who did not explain this to them.

   Upon returning to live in the US , they realized their mistake and made efforts to correct the problem by entering into the voluntary disclosure program. After a very long process, and paying lots of lawyers fees, they were told that they needed to pay approximately $250,000 in penalty, when the amount of back taxes owed was only about $8,000.

   Unlike the subject of your interview, my parents have not been able to appeal this decision, as they were told that they would have to opt out of the voluntary disclosure program, which could result in penalties up to $2,000,000 if they lose the appeal. The discrepancy between the crime and the punishment in cases such as these is really shocking, and it is notable that if my parents were a corporation then they would have been able to negotiate for a lower penalty. Why are American citizens being treated this way?

   You correctly identified that there is a difference between those who have willfully attempted to launder their money and those who simply made a mistake and are willing to account for the money. Instead of being treated with any kind of fairness, my parents are being relieved of their retirement savings by their own government, which we never expected in America .

   Thanks so much for covering this issue, and if you have learned of any additional resources for redress in these cases, please share the information with us, your listeners!

   To which I replied…

   Thnx David.

   Sad story, but I am not surprised. There are many others. (thousands, I would bet) Thanks for letting me know, as it does make me feel that maybe the interview had some value to someone.

   The OVDP was a penalty extraction process, based upon intimidation. I hear through the grapevine that they might finally be re-routing people in a front end process through a more streamlined process without telling anyone publicly, but hard to know, as they are so secretive. I know of one case of a couple who entered, and after 16 months of anxiety and stress they still have not heard anything as to what to expect.

   If I were to offer these people any advice, it would be to contact Nina Olson of the TAS right away. Don’t just roll over and accept it as inevitable.

   What examiners will do, is after the lengthy process, tell you if you don’t like the penalty, you can ‘opt out’, but intimidate you into thinking that your penalties will be worse plus imply a serious criminal prosecution risk outside the program. That is just IRS hyperbole, but unless you can afford an expensive attorney to trump them, fear keeps folks trapped and paying much more than they should. They don’t hear via any support groups that others have been able to lower penalties outside the OVDP in the ‘Opt Out’ or via appeals to the TAS. You are more then welcome to give them the link to my case study as maybe they will learn something from my experience to help them with their dilemma.

   I personally think this is more scandalous and egregious abuse of power than the current IRS tempest in a tea pot.

4. “I personally think this is more scandalous and egregious abuse of power than the current IRS tempest in a tea pot.”

   I totally agree. I was even surprised they’re making such a big deal about the tea party organizations being scrutinized to verify if they were eligible to be tax exempt. The names suggested that they were political organizations that were likely not eligible for that status. How is targeting these groups to verify their eligibility scandalous? How is that worse than targeting small business owners for audits more than normal people. How is that more scandalous than auditing more people who earn high wages.
   On the other hand, they should go after the IRS for their abuse of power in OVDI. Stories like the ones posted are heartbreaking.

5. Just an update, for my record as much as anything.

   I just had a long conversation today with a Tax Analyst reporter who is doing a story on experiences inside the OVDP…

   In compiling some additional links for her, about how this story was covered, I thought I would give her a view on how the media see the story. This led meback to their story page, and to my surprise, I see that 1 of the 2 comments I made was let out of moderation. So, I must acknowledge that fact, as previously I was very disappointed in the fact that nothing had being posted.

6. One further update which I have been meaning to do.

   Planet Money included this story as part of a 3 part podcast they did and put up on the internet. It was the first story of the 3.

   Episode 461: Lawyers, Guns And Money

   I have been meaning to compare this version with the one they originally did for “All Things Considered”. My sense was that they made some subtle changes as result of some criticisms I have, but I haven’t done a word for word comparison, so I could be wrong. Maybe as time passes you hear it with new ears!

7. @ Just Me
   I just listened to it again. The cackling lawyer (Falk) lied almost with his first breath when he said he told his clients it was safe for them to talk on the phone. 🙁 I could hardly wait to get to your segment. It sounded pretty much the same as the previous podcast (I think) but don’t go by me because I have poor ears and a poor memory too. For sure it was way too short with too much cackling by him (Falk) and too little airtime for you. I really hope NPR will do something in depth in the near future.

8. yeah, it seemed to have a different slant to it, which can’t be defined

9. The following item about ammunition is also a topic. Huge deficits in ammunition supply had been showing up at that time, and huge procurements of ammunition were documented at the IRS and other inane agencies in order to take ammunition off the civilian market. Feerdom at the government level.

   Followed next by the story about Irish located Google with its low taxes.

   Sweden just lowered its Corporate tax to 22% and is giving massive breaks to Investors. Sweden is the new tax haven.