Americans with Israeli bank or other financial accounts could face a tough tax season in 2015 if they do not come forward and disclose their assets to the IRS. Israeli banks have come under increased scrutiny by the IRS in regards to disclosing the accounts of their American clients. In particular, three Israeli banks- Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot- have been under investigation by the Department of Justice.

The first Israeli bank to now bow to the United States is Bank Leumi. A deferred prosecution agreement between the Bank Leumi Group and the U.S. Department of Justice was filed today in the Central District of California that defers prosecution on a criminal information charging the bank with conspiracy to aid and assist in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns and other documents to the Internal Revenue Service. This is the same type Read More

In order to avoid a fate similar to UBS, Bank Leumi recently admitted to engaging in some tax “hanky panky.” One of the largest banks in Israel, Leumi admitted that it helped U.S. taxpayers evade their taxes. How so? By helping these individuals to hide their income and assets in offshore accounts in Israel and in other parts of the world.

This did not come without a price – a steep one. To account for its criminal conduct, Bank Leumi Group will pay the IRS a whopping $270 million in fines and an additional $ 130 million to New York’s Department of Financial Services. The terms of the deal are strikingly similar to the one that UBS entered into a while ago with the United States – an admission of wrongdoing in exchange for immunity from prosecution. This is what is referred to colloquially as a “deferred prosecution agreement.” Read More

Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Blog PostAlthough the Internal Revenue Service won’t comment on the reason Bank Leumi customers were kicked out of the IRS’ Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) after not only being accepted into the program, but after some had already received a final clearance and paid the amounts due to the IRS, it is suspected that the IRS admitted the taxpayers into the program in error. If a taxpayer is already under investigation or audit, he won’t be admitted into OVDP. Once admitted, a taxpayer can be removed if he does not cooperate with the government or makes false statements with regard to the disclosure. Since some of these taxpayers were readmitted, it is likely they were originally admitted in error. Regardless, the right result was reached with this reversal if the IRS wants taxpayers to continue to come forward and disclose offshore accounts.

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