IRS answers a query of when a failure to report foreign accounts is “willful.” The standard for willfullness in this context includes knowing violations as well as reckless conduct, agency attorneys say privately in a memo to the field. Also, IRS and the courts uniformly agree that the government’s burden of proof for asserting civil penalties for non-reporting is preponderance of the evidence. Note that the penalty for willful failure to report a foreign account is steep… equal to the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the highest balance in the account. The fine for a non-willful reporting violation is much less…$10,000.