Based on the IRS' announcement on Monday, it appears that there is a 2nd amnesty program in the works for undisclosed offshore bank accounts. The previous amnesty program, which ended on October 15, 2009, was established to encourage individuals/entities in which held offshore bank accounts to come forward and disclose the account. The previous program reduced the penalty for non-disclosure of the bank account. In addition, the tax payer was only charged the penalty for one year. The penalty for non-disclosure can be 20% for each of the six years preceding the account being discovered. Thus, penalties at times can be in excess of the value of the account. See our initial comments on the program here. The IRS requires any U.S. citizen or resident who owns a foreign financial account with a fair market value in excess of $10,000 to be reported annually on Form TDF 90-22.1. If you find that you have a foreign bank account in which has not been reported please contact us so that we may discuss the options in which you have. Over the past couple of years, dbbmckennon has represented various individuals in declaring foreign investment accounts and assisted in the preparation of the required forms.