I Do Not Qualify for the Streamlined Domestic and Offshore Procedures what are my other options?
Barry Smyth is a U.K. citizen who has moved to the New York 15 years ago. He was not aware of the need to report interests in foreign companies and trusts on his personal tax return. Barry owns an interest in an Guernsey Trust that in turn owns interests in 15 foreign LLCs and corporations.
Barry met with one of his friends 3 years prior who asked him how he manages the complexities of his U.S. tax return. It was at this time that he did some digging on the internet and saw that he had been incorrectly completing his U.S. tax returns for over a decade.
When Barry reached out to us we worked with him on the completion of a statement of non-willfulness and an estimation of his unpaid tax, interest and penalties. As we delved further into the fact pattern it became clear that Barry had knowledge of his obligations 3 years prior and that he had knowingly filed multiple incorrect returns.
It is unlikely that Barry would have been accepted as a candidate for the Streamlined procedures as even after he became aware of his obligations to file income tax returns he continued to complete them incorrectly.
Barry ultimately elected to enter the offshore voluntary disclosure program in order to address the criminal and civil penalties he was exposed to.
This program ended on September 28 2018. Matters of this nature now require a very careful assessment of a taxpayer’s circumstances.