If you've hidden cash or evaded you taxes, it's time to fess up and come clean.
The IRS isn't the only government agency on the tails of Connecticut residents with secret offshore bank account. Connecticut's Department of Revenue Services wants you too, but they will be lenient for a little bit.
The state's revenue department has created the Connecticut Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program.
"This program provides an opportunity for Connecticut taxpayers who have unreported offshore income to settle their State tax liabilities without civil or criminal penalties," Commissioner Richard Nicholson said.
The Connecticut program comes on the heels of an agreement between the Swiss government and the IRS regarding the release of the names of 4,450 United States residents suspected of using foreign bank accounts to evade taxes. But we aren't the only state. Oregon, New York and at least four other states have disclosure programs or amnesties that are open to offshore-account holders.
The Connecticut program runs through Jan. 15, 2010 and allows taxpayers to come into compliance with state law by reporting and paying taxes on funds kept in previously unreported offshore accounts, according to the Department of Revenue Services Web site.
Last August, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced an investigation into offshore tax evaders and asked Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to take a closer look.
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"It is critical we do all we can to aggressively protect our bottom line. Those who knowingly divert or disguise taxable assets, particularly in this economic climate, must be held accountable," Rell said.
You'll have to pay the interest on any unpaid taxes that you owe but the good news, according to the Department of Revenue Services Web site, is that in exchange for the voluntary disclosure, the state won't impose any civil penalties.
