Even if you have been a bad taxpayer, California is willing to give you a break.

Voluntary Compliance Initiative 2 (VCI 2) is an opportunity for taxpayers who underreported their California income tax liabilities, through the use of abusive tax avoidance transactions (ATAT) or offshore financial arrangements (OFA), to amend their returns for 2010 and prior tax years and obtain a waiver of most penalties.

Filing period: August 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011

Applicable tax years: 2010 and prior

• Eligibility
• Participation
• Benefits
• Penalties

Eligibility

You are eligible to participate in VCI 2 if you (or one of your related entities):

• Filed a tax return that underreported your income or tax liability through the use of an ATAT or OFA.

You are eligible even if you:

• Are currently under FTB examination for an ATAT or OFA.
• Are currently under administrative protest or appeal for an ATAT or OFA.
• Participated in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative.

Participation

You must take the following steps to participate:

1. File a completed Participation Agreement form with us between August 1, 2011 and October 31, 2011.
2. Attach the form to your amended return to report all income from all sources, without regard to the ATAT and including all income from the OFA.
3. Pay all tax and interest by October 31, 2011. See payment options for more information.

Benefits

Participation in VCI 2 will allow you to avoid:

• The cost of litigation.
• Certain penalties and the associated interest.
• Criminal prosecution.

Penalties

You can avoid the following penalties under VCI 2:

• Noneconomic Substance Transaction Understatement Penalty
• Accuracy Related Penalty
• Interest Based Penalty
• Fraud Penalty

If you are eligible but do not participate, you will be subject to the full range of penalties and interest, and may be subject to criminal prosecution.

The Large Corporate Understatement Penalty (LCUP) and the Amnesty Penalty cannot be waived under this initiative.