WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service IRS: gave an April deadline to file FBARs for resident aliens and any legal domestic entity, that the deadline to file their Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Annual is April 15. For more information about filing deadlines, filers should refer to the site Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) website PDF.
Filers who miss the April deadlines will receive an automatic extension until October 15, 2022 to file the FBAR. They do not need to request the extension. check the site FinCEN website PDF for more information.
What is the IRS FBAR?
The Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report, also known as an FBAR, is a report that is submitted to the United States Department of the Treasury each year. The report is used to track the financial activity of offshore bank accounts
If you have a foreign bank account and meet certain criteria, you are required to file an FBAR. The most common criteria that triggers the requirement to file an FBAR is if you have more than $10.000 in the account at any time during the year
The penalties for not filing an FBAR can be severe, so it is important to know if you are required to file one. If you have any questions about whether or not you should file an FBAR, contact a tax professional.
Who must file an FBAR?
The Bank Secrecy Act requires Americans to file an FBAR if they have:
- Financial interests, signature authority, or other authority over one or more accounts, such as a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, or other financial account in a foreign country, and The total value of all foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.
Because of this threshold, the IRS encourages US persons or entities with foreign accounts, even relatively small ones, to check if this filing requirement applies to them.
A US person is a citizen or resident of the United States or any domestic legal entity, such as a partnership, corporation, limited liability company, estate, or trust.
The FBAR must be filed electronically with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and is only available through the FinCEN website. BSA Electronic Filing System. Taxpayers who are unable to file their FBAR electronically should contact FinCEN at 800-949-2732 (703-905-3975 if calling from outside the United States) or in FRC@fincen.gov.
Penalties for Failure to File an FBAR
Those who fail to file an FBAR when required may be subject to significant civil and criminal penalties that may result in a fine and/or imprisonment. The IRS will not penalize those who have correctly reported a foreign account on a late-filed FBAR if the IRS determines there was reasonable cause for the late filing.
More details and help available
IRS.gov has several resources available 24 hours a day:
- FBAR 2022 Fact Sheet
- Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report (FBAR)
- International taxpayers
- Frequently asked questions about international individual tax matters
- FinCEN website Maximum Account Value Report
To help avoid delays with tax refunds, taxpayers living abroad should visit Helpful tips for effectively receiving a tax refund for taxpayers living abroad at IRS.gov.
OFFICIAL IRS REPORT. (NOTE TAKEN FROM THE IRS OFFICIAL PAGE)
