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COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Ohioans with income held in Swiss bank accounts have a
one-time opportunity to disclose any unreported income
in these accounts by March 1, 2010 and partially avoid
penalties.
The Ohio Department of Taxation has created the Ohio
Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program for taxpayers
holding accounts in Swiss banks who have not previously
reported the full extent of this income. The program
offers eligible taxpayers the opportunity to limit the
penalty they pay to 15 percent of the tax due.
Ohio’s voluntary disclosure initiative was prompted by
an August 2009 Internal Revenue Service agreement with
the Swiss government. This agreement specifies that the
Swiss government will direct the UBS bank to turn over
information to the IRS on thousands of accounts held by
Americans. The Swiss government has also agreed to
review and process additional requests for information
from other Swiss banks.
The IRS will share the results of its examination of
these accounts with Ohio and other states under long
standing information-sharing agreements. The IRS
recently launched its own voluntary disclosure program
for affected taxpayers.
"Our job is to make sure everyone is playing by the
same set of rules. When a few taxpayers hide income in
offshore bank accounts, that isn't fair to everyone
else," Ohio Tax Commissioner Richard A. Levin said.
"This is a one-time opportunity for taxpayers with
unreported offshore income to come clean and make
things right while minimizing their penalty."
The Department of Taxation may partially abate
the penalty on any taxpayer who underreported income in
prior years provided that it is disclosed by March 1,
2010 and the taxpayer meets the program’s other
conditions, outlined below. These taxpayers will then
owe the tax due plus interest, and a penalty equal to
15 percent of the tax due. Taxpayers who do not
come forward – and who are later identified by the
Department of Taxation through information provided by
the IRS – will face much stiffer penalties.
In order to enter the voluntary disclosure program,
taxpayers must disclose the underreported income and
provide the following information:
- A cover letter stating an intention to enter the
Ohio Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program;
- A description of the source of funds or other
assets in each account;
- The date the initial deposit was made or the date
on which the taxpayer took control or ownership of each
account;
- Documentation indicating whether the principal
(which includes initial deposits and all subsequent
contributions) has been taxed or untaxed and the tax
years involved;
- The amount of potential tax liability; and
- Whether the taxpayer participated in the IRS
Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program.
The information described above should be sent by
e-mail to TaxDisclosure@tax.state.oh.us.
Taxpayers will have 60 days after their initial contact
to the department to submit all pertinent documents and
necessary payments.
A fuller description of the program and other
information is available at the information release
located at the URL listed below:
tax.ohio.gov/divisions/communications/information_releases/income/IT_2009_02.stm
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Members of the news media with further questions should
contact Mike McKinney at (614) 466-5461. Taxpayers with
questions about the program should contact Vaughn
Lombardo at (614) 995-0726 or Peter Angus at (614)
387-1752.
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