Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

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Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

If you are a United States person and you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account that exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year you may be required to file Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). Financial accounts include bank accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, trusts, or other type of foreign financial accounts.

You are considered a United States person if you are any of the following:

  • U.S. citizens;
  • U.S. residents;
  • U.S. entities, including but not limited to, corporations, partnerships, or limited liability companies, created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States;
  • Trusts or estates formed under the laws of the United States.

The FBAR is a calendar year report and must be filed on or before June 30 of the year following the calendar year being reported. Effective July 1, 2013, the FBAR must be filed electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System. The FBAR is not filed with a federal tax return. When the IRS grants a filing extension for a taxpayer’s income tax return, it does not extend the time to file an FBAR. There is no provision for requesting an extension of time to file an FBAR.

If you are required to file an FBAR and fail to do so you may be subject to a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation for nonwillful violations that are not due to reasonable cause. For willful violations, the penalty may be the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the balance in the account at the time of the violation, for each violation.

If you have several years of unfiled FBAR forms don’t wait for IRS to contact you. Call The Pless Law Firm, P.A. today!

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