OVDI/P, SDOP, SFOP : expect the unexpected and the need for a lot of patience

One cannot avoid willfulness with little more than a claim that his or her heart is pure, at least if there are surrounding "bad" facts allowing a contrary inference.
Do you feel comfortable and have sufficient factual basis to certify your “non-willful” status ?
The big question still remains for taxpayers - after waiting on average 1.5 years within OVDI/P - how long do they have to wait now for this certification process to be completed ? In the new environment with SFOP/SDOP, I wonder if a post-QD,GF audit will result in stiffer penalties. Will the "Service" see the taxpayer as knowingly avoiding SDOP to avoid the even lower i.e 5% penalty ?
We shall see but it seems very likely.
Unfortunately the streamlined procedures do not limit the civil penalties otherwise associated with the reporting of U.S. source income. OVDP Frequently Asked Question 7.1 provides "The offshore penalty structure only resolves liabilities and penalties related to offshore noncompliance. Domestic portions of a voluntary disclosure are subject to examination."

Further, the streamlined procedures do not provide protection from a possible criminal prosecution referral. However, the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice set forth in IRS Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) 9.5.11.9 would seem to provide a pass from a criminal referral if the appropriate "bells and whistles" set forth in IRM 9.5.11.9 are followed (a "truthful, timely, complete" disclosure, "willingness to cooperate", "taxpayer makes good faith arrangements with the IRS to pay in full, the tax, interest, and any penalties determined by the IRS to be applicable," etc. ).

IRM 9.5.11.9 further provides:

1. It is currently the practice of the IRS that a voluntary disclosure will be considered along with all other factors in the investigation in determining whether criminal prosecution will be recommended. This voluntary disclosure practice creates no substantive or procedural rights for taxpayers as it is simply a matter of internal IRS practice, provided solely for guidance to IRS personnel. Taxpayers cannot rely on the fact that other similarly situated taxpayers may not have been recommended for criminal prosecution.
2. A voluntary disclosure will not automatically guarantee immunity from prosecution; however, a voluntary disclosure may result in prosecution not being recommended. This practice does not apply to taxpayers with illegal source income.

Be cautious when certifying non-willful status to the government. The government may have or subsequently receive information that does not support such status. All we can do is speculate about what might happen if the bank turns over files that have evidence of the taxpayer's willfulness.
I have said before that I suspect there will be a few prosecutions for false certifications. But, I would think that they have to be the most egregious cases. I doubt that the IRS and DOJ will press the issue except in the most egregious cases.
And, of course, the taxpayer will know before certifying that his or her case is egregious.

Will They Actually Inquire Regarding the "Non-Willful" Certification? The IRS has indicated it will review each certification of non-willful status seeking participation in the streamlined procedures.
Once a taxpayer makes a submission under either the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, the taxpayer may not participate in OVDP.
Similarly, a taxpayer who submits an OVDP voluntary disclosure letter pursuant to OVDP FAQ 24 on or after July 1, 2014, is not eligible to participate in the streamlined procedures.
Non-resident taxpayers might be better positioned to achieve their goal of a non-willful, no penalty resolution under the streamlined procedures. Their "foreign" account is actually in their own neighborhood; it is only "foreign" in the sense that it is located outside the territorial boundaries of the United States. The existence of the account does not, by itself, somehow represent an acknowledgment of tax non-compliance by the non-resident taxpayer. The streamlined procedures seem to represent the first attempt by the government to acknowledge that at some point, non-resident taxpayers become residents of their home state, emotionally even if perhaps not technically.
 http://taxlitigator.me/2014/08/08/am-i-non-willful-under-the-irs-ovdp-streamlined-procedures/