Daily Tax Report Quotes Scott Michel on the American Bar Association's OVDP Webinar

During a recent webinar hosted by the American Bar Association, Caplin & Drysdale's Scott D. Michel reacted to the absence of formal guidance on what it  considers "willful"  or "non-willful conduct" for taxpayers entering the Streamlined Filing Compliance Program as opposed to OVDP, noting that there is plenty of case law reflecting the position of both the IRS and the DOJ on that very question. Mr. Michel also discussed the current state of IRS and Justice Department investigations and prosecutions of taxpayers and banks. For the complete article, please click on the link above to view a PDF.

Excerpt taken from the article.

Panelist Michel, a member of Caplin &  Drysdale, said he agrees that there is "a body of evidence as to what the IRS thinks is willful. The absence of guidance is what it is, but there is plenty of guidance."

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Caplin's Michel described the Justice Department's ongoing work in Switzerland, where many banks have entered a quasi-voluntary disclosure program to turn over information on account holders to the U.S. Michel said due to current constraints on the information that can be provided, "Swiss bank secrecy still exists," but is increasingly limited in scope.