U.S. citizens who have relinquished or intend to relinquish their United States citizenship and who wish to come into compliance with their U.S. income tax and reporting obligations and avoid being taxed as a “covered expatriate” under section 877A of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (IRC) may qualify to file delinquent returns under the Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens.
These procedures are only available to U.S. citizens with a net worth of less than $2 million (at the time of expatriation and at the time of making their submission under these procedures), and an aggregate tax liability of $25,000 or less for the taxable year of expatriation and the five prior years. If these individuals submit the information set forth below and meet the requirements of these procedures, they will not be “covered expatriates” under IRC 877A, nor will they be liable for any unpaid taxes and penalties for these years or any previous years.These procedures may only be used by taxpayers whose failure to file required tax returns (including income tax returns, applicable gift tax returns, information returns (including Form 8938, Statement of Foreign Financial Assets), and Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FinCEN Form 114, formerly Form TD F 90-22.1)) and pay taxes and penalties for the years at issue was due to non-willful conduct. Non-willful conduct is conduct that is due to negligence, inadvertence, or mistake or conduct that is the result of a good faith misunderstanding of the requirements of the law.
Filing under these procedures requires six years of tax returns, including Form 8854 and any information returns, and six years of FBARs.
The IRS can end this program at anytime, as they did with the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program.
