In November 2018, the IRS changed its long-standing voluntary disclosure practice for both domestic and offshore voluntary disclosures. The new guidance provides less procedural detail and penalty assurance than the old OVDP but also sets out a general framework for handling all voluntary disclosures. This panel discusses the details of the new IRS practice, when it is the right choice for your clients, and what other alternatives may be available.
Identify IRS efforts to pursue non-compliant taxpayers, as well as clients’ options for reaching compliance via updated Voluntary Disclosure Practice and other programs.
IRS
Assistant Division Counsel (International)
CAROLYN A. SCHENCK has been employed by the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel for 13 years. She is currently Assistant Division Counsel (International) in the Small Business/Self Employed Division and has been assigned for the last 11 as counsel to the Service’s Offshore Compliance Initiatives. Carolyn is responsible for coordination and management of all international and offshore tax and Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) matters under the jurisdiction of SB/SE Division Counsel. She ensures that SB/SE attorneys consistently apply law and policy in international and offshore tax and FBAR matters, including non-docketed cases and cases docketed in the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. District Courts, the Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Carolyn also provides guidance to and serves as the principal legal advisor and contact point on international and offshore tax and FBAR matters to the SB/SE Division and the Withholding and International Individual Compliance function of the LB&I Division. Her international work also involves John Doe summons actions, the Service’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure programs and Streamline Filing Compliance Procedures, working with IRS Treaty partners on cross-border issues and cases, and conducting nationwide trainings for attorneys and agents on investigative techniques, evidence, and substantive tax issues. She has litigated numerous cases in U.S. Tax Court on behalf of the IRS. She also works with IRS special enforcement agents on cases involving fraud, foreign accounts, and foreign reporting penalties; she also assists the Department of Justice in cases involving criminal tax prosecutions, injunctions, summons enforcement, and abusive tax return preparers and promoters. She has been an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University School of Law for Honors Appellate Advocacy. Prior to joining the IRS, she was an Attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement. She also worked for Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit and Chief Judge H. Robert Mayer of the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. Before her law career, Ms. Schenck worked for U.S. Senator John McCain and as a weapons analyst. She is a member of the California and Maryland state bars and holds a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law, and a B.S. summa cum laude from Northern Arizona University.
McCarter & English, LLP
Attorney
lsannicandro@mccarter.com
9736392081
Lawrence (“Larry”) Sannicandro is an associate in the Tax, Employee Benefits & Private Clients Practice Group who concentrates his practice on tax controversy and tax planning matters. He represents businesses, estates, trusts, and individuals at all stages of tax controversies, including in audits, before the IRS Office of Appeals, and in litigation before the United States Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals.
Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry
Shareholder
larry.campagna@chamberlainlaw.com
(713) 654-9609
Larry Campagna has established a reputation as an authoritative litigator in matters of business litigation and white collar criminal defense, as well as federal, state and local tax controversies. Over the past 40 years, he has resolved thousands of civil and criminal litigation matters, many of which involved sophisticated and complex legal issues that established precedent in courts at the federal, state and local levels.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Partner
emily.hughes@kirkland.com
(202) 879-5964
Emily P. Hughes is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Her practice focuses on counseling and advising on complex litigation matters and tax controversies, as well as general corporate representations, private investment structuring, and charitable structuring, governance, and giving for private/family owned companies, ultra high net worth individuals, and nonprofits.
CPAacademy.org (Sponsor Id#: 111889) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.
CPAacademy.org 1685 S. Colorado Blvd, Suite #205, Denver, CO 80222