Got Income from Land, Property or Account in India? The Taxman Is Looking at You

Lawrence S. Horn was quoted about the IRS’s current offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program and a recent “filing by the Justice Department of an application to serve a [John Doe] summons on HSBC seeking the names of all of its US customers who have accounts with HSBC in India, many of whom are believed by the IRS to have secret, non-disclosed accounts.” Horn continued, “The battle lines have been carefully drawn. US taxpayers who have undisclosed accounts in India have two choices: They will either apply for acceptance into the IRS 2011 Voluntary Disclosure Program, which expires August 31; or, they take a monumental risk – if HSBC provides their name to the IRS, they are likely to face criminal prosecution, likely jail terms in federal prison, and confiscatory civil penalties, which could result in owing the IRS more than three times the amount in the undisclosed accounts.”