IRS extends offshore reporting deadline

Jessica Perry//August 31, 2011

People hiding income in offshore accounts have a few extra days to voluntarily report that information to the Internal Revenue Service, due to Hurricane Irene.

The IRS announced Friday that the deadline for participating in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative has been extended to Sept. 9.

Those asking for a 90-day extension to complete the voluntary disclosure package also need to have the extension request, in addition to the identifying information, by the Sept. 9 deadline.

The OVDI was created in February after the success of a 2009 voluntary reporting program. The IRS said 15,000 disclosures were collected, identifying offshore bank accounts in 60 different countries.

OVDI participants will face stiffer penalties than the 2009 reporters, but will avoid possible criminal charges associated with non-disclosure.