FBAR/OVDI LANCE WALLACH: FBAR Offshore Bank Accounts and Foreign Income Att...

FBAR/OVDI LANCE WALLACH: FBAR Offshore Bank Accounts and Foreign Income Att...: You may want to think about participation in the IRS’ offshore tax amnesty program (called the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative). Do...

What is the due date for the FBAR?

The due date for the FBAR is June 30^th of each year.  

Can I put the FBAR on extension?

No. Unfortunately, there is no extension for the FBAR! The FBAR is not filed with a federal tax return. Any filing extensions of time granted by the IRS to file a tax return does not extend the time to file an FBAR.

What are the penalties for filing the FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) late?

There are 2 different types of penalties for not filing an FBAR by the due date – Non-Willful and Willful.

Maximum Penalty Non-willful:

• $10,000. No penalty shall be imposed if the violation was due to reasonable cause and the amount of the transaction or the balance in the account at the time of the transaction was properly reported

Maximum Willful violations:

• The greater of $100,000 or 50% of the balance of the account at the time of the violation

Penalty Mitigation-

The law provides a ceiling for the FBAR penalty. The actual penalty is left to the discretion of the examiner. The IRS has guidelines for its employees which allow them some discretion. If the IRS determined that a taxpayer meets the following four threshold conditions, that taxpayer may be subject to a penalty less than the maximum FBAR penalty

1. The person has no history of past FBAR penalty assessments;