US appellate courts now agree that 'reckless' offshore non-disclosure constitutes 'willfulness'

In IRS v Reyes, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has held that 'wilful' failure to report a foreign bank account under the Bank Secrecy Act includes reckless, as well as intentional, conduct. Similar conclusions have been reached by six other circuits, reinforcing the Internal Revenue Service's policy of imposing penalties of 6 per cent of the undeclared sum: USD2 million held in a Swiss account, in the case of the Reyes defendants.

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