Taxpayers in at least 45 states and the District of Columbia reported accounts in 68 countries and territories.
The new U.S. Government Accountability Office report: “IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program: 2009 Participation by State and Location of Foreign Bank Accounts,” is a supplement to its March 2013 report, “Offshore Tax Evasion: IRS Has Collected Billions of Dollars, but May be Missing Continued Evasion.”
In the new report, the GAO looked at 10,500 tax returns for 2008 filed by 2009 disclosure participants, and the 12,889 accompanying FBAR forms. Some taxpayers disclosed dozens of offshore accounts with multiple banks and in multiple countries; some disclosed just one account in one country.
|
Table 1: 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Participants by State 2008 tax return mailing address
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
|
Alabama
|
26
|
<1%
|
|
Alaska
|
20
|
<1%
|
|
Arizona
|
146
|
1%
|
|
Arkansas
|
17
|
<1%
|
|
California
|
2,524
|
24%
|
|
Colorado
|
139
|
1%
|
|
Connecticut
|
210
|
2%
|
|
Delaware
|
17
|
<1%
|
|
District of Columbiaa
|
49
|
<1%
|
|
Florida
|
1,022
|
10%
|
|
Georgia
|
143
|
1%
|
|
Hawaii
|
59
|
1%
|
|
Idaho
|
11
|
<1%
|
|
Illinois
|
291
|
3%
|
|
Indiana
|
47
|
<1%
|
|
Iowa
|
17
|
<1%
|
|
Kansas
|
22
|
<1%
|
|
Kentucky
|
24
|
<1%
|
|
Louisiana
|
39
|
<1%
|
|
Maine
|
25
|
<1%
|
|
Maryland
|
203
|
2%
|
|
Massachusetts
|
307
|
3%
|
|
Michigan
|
129
|
1%
|
|
Minnesota
|
59
|
1%
|
|
Mississippi
|
11
|
<1%
|
|
Missouri
|
57
|
1%
|
|
Montanab
|
—
|
—
|
|
Nebraska
|
11
|
<1%
|
|
Nevada
|
97
|
1%
|
|
New Hampshire
|
40
|
<1%
|
|
New Jersey
|
631
|
6%
|
|
New Mexico
|
31
|
<1%
|
|
New York
|
1,844
|
18%
|
|
North Carolina
|
125
|
1%
|
|
North Dakotab
|
—
|
—
|
|
Ohio
|
159
|
2%
|
|
Oklahoma
|
17
|
<1%
|
|
Oregon
|
58
|
1%
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
269
|
3%
|
|
Rhode Island
|
25
|
<1%
|
|
South Carolina
|
50
|
<1%
|
|
South Dakotab
|
—
|
—
|
|
Tennessee
|
48
|
<1%
|
|
Texas
|
512
|
5%
|
|
Utah
|
26
|
<1%
|
|
Vermont
|
26
|
<1%
|
|
Virginia
|
184
|
2%
|
|
Washington
|
231
|
2%
|
|
West Virginiab
|
—
|
—
|
|
Wisconsin
|
49
|
<1%
|
|
Wyomingb
|
—
|
—
|
|
Subtotal of suppressed states b
|
29
|
<1%
|
|
Other addresses a,c
|
457
|
4%
|
|
TOTAL
|
10,533
|
100%
|
|
2: Locations of Foreign Bank Accounts Reported on Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Forms by 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Participants Country or territory
|
Frequency
|
Percent a
|
|
Switzerland
|
5,427
|
42%
|
|
United Kingdom
|
1,058
|
8%
|
|
Canada
|
556
|
4%
|
|
France
|
528
|
4%
|
|
Israel
|
510
|
4%
|
|
Germany
|
484
|
4%
|
|
China
|
394
|
3%
|
|
Hong Kong
|
362
|
3%
|
|
Taiwan
|
307
|
2%
|
|
India
|
306
|
2%
|
|
Italy
|
189
|
1%
|
|
Luxembourg
|
174
|
1%
|
|
Australia
|
161
|
1%
|
|
Singapore
|
156
|
1%
|
|
Cayman Islands
|
148
|
1%
|
|
Liechtenstein
|
142
|
1%
|
|
Netherlands
|
121
|
1%
|
|
Austria
|
116
|
1%
|
|
Ireland
|
110
|
1%
|
|
Sweden
|
107
|
1%
|
|
Belgium
|
106
|
1%
|
|
Mexico
|
102
|
1%
|
|
Isle of Man (UK)
|
90
|
1%
|
|
South Korea
|
86
|
1%
|
|
Japan
|
83
|
1%
|
|
Spain
|
82
|
1%
|
|
South Africa
|
81
|
1%
|
|
Jersey (UK)
|
72
|
1%
|
|
New Zealand
|
72
|
1%
|
|
Bahamas
|
69
|
1%
|
|
Brazil
|
59
|
<1%
|
|
Thailand
|
54
|
<1%
|
|
Bermuda
|
52
|
<1%
|
|
Denmark
|
52
|
<1%
|
|
Norway
|
50
|
<1%
|
|
Greece
|
49
|
<1%
|
|
Virgin Islands (British)
|
49
|
<1%
|
|
Monaco
|
45
|
<1%
|
|
Panama
|
44
|
<1%
|
|
Philippines
|
39
|
<1%
|
|
Costa Rica
|
33
|
<1%
|
|
Netherlands (Antilles)
|
32
|
<1%
|
|
Colombia
|
29
|
<1%
|
|
Turkey
|
29
|
<1%
|
|
Guernsey
|
26
|
<1%
|
|
Hungary
|
25
|
<1%
|
|
Malaysia
|
25
|
<1%
|
|
United Arab Emirates
|
22
|
<1%
|
|
Jamaica
|
20
|
<1%
|
|
Dominican Republic
|
18
|
<1%
|
|
Lebanon
|
18
|
<1%
|
|
Poland
|
18
|
<1%
|
|
Venezuela
|
18
|
<1%
|
|
Chile
|
15
|
<1%
|
|
Cyprus
|
15
|
<1%
|
|
Finland
|
15
|
<1%
|
|
Antigua & Barbuda
|
14
|
<1%
|
|
Argentina
|
14
|
<1%
|
|
Iran
|
14
|
<1%
|
|
Portugal
|
14
|
<1%
|
|
Russia
|
14
|
<1%
|
|
Egypt
|
13
|
<1%
|
|
Uruguay
|
13
|
<1%
|
|
Sri Lanka
|
12
|
<1%
|
|
Guatemala
|
12
|
<1%
|
|
Czech Republic
|
11
|
<1%
|
|
Pakistan
|
11
|
<1%
|
|
Saint Kitts & Nevis
|
10
|
<1%
|
Offshore tax evasion continues to be a hot issue in Washington. The IRS included “hiding income offshore” on its dirty dozen list of tax scams for 2014, touting the voluntary disclosure program and warning: “It is in the best long-term interest of taxpayers to come forward, catch up on their filing requirements and pay their fair share.” The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on February 26, “Offshore Tax Evasion: The Effort to Collect Unpaid Taxes on Billions in Hidden Offshore Accounts.”
At the same time, the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, in her January annual report to Congress, points out the impact of the disclosure programs on taxpayers who make honest mistakes as one of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers.
888 882-9243)
Sources
GAO
Read more at: Tax Times blog
