IRS Criminal Penalties for Delinquent Offshore Account Holders

In considering whether or not to participate in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI) taxpayers should be aware that if they do not participate and are caught they face a possible ten year prison sentence, a $500,000 fine and a civil penalty of 50% of the the highest account balance for each year the FBAR was not filed.

Here is the criminal penalty statute:

31 USC § 5322 – Criminal penalties

A person willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed or order issued under this subchapter (except section 5315 or 5324 of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315 or 5324), or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508, while violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period, shall be fined not more than $500,000, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.