Taxpayers had until April 15, 2003, to apply for OVCI. The program was designed to bring taxpayers who used offshore payment cards or other offshore financial arrangements to hide income back into compliance with U.S. tax laws.

In all, the IRS received OVCI applications from 1,299 taxpayers from nearly every state and from 48 other countries.

While the program has led to $75 million in taxes collected, the cost of the OVCI program is approximately $2 million to date.

Applicants to OVCI had to provide full details on the person or persons who promoted the offshore arrangements. Eligible taxpayers could avoid criminal prosecution and certain penalties but would still have to pay back taxes, interest and some penalties.

People from all walks of life applied for the program, including lawyers, dentists, business executives, estate heirs and numerous other occupations.

A related, but separate component of the effort is the Offshore Credit Card Program (OCCP). This program stems from the John Doe summons investigation. Since October 2000, the IRS has issued a series of summonses to a variety of financial and commercial businesses to obtain information on U.S. residents who held credit, debit or other payment cards issued by offshore banks.

Investigators have been using records from the John Doe summonses to trace the identities of people whose use of these payment cards may be related to hiding taxable income.

"We have a multi-pronged approach on offshore tax evasion, and we will continue to aggressively pursue this issue," said Bob Wenzel, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement. "Our continuing efforts send a strong signal to offshore tax evaders and others considering hiding their money overseas."