Increased Penalties for Failure to File an FBAR to Report Foreign Financial Assets

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently announced inflation-adjusted penalties for failure by U.S. persons to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) reporting an interest in foreign financial accounts.  The civil penalty for non-willful failure to report increased to $12,921 (from $12,663), and the penalty for willful failure to report increased to $129,210 (from $126,626) for penalties assessed in 2018.  Note that criminal penalties can be significantly greater. 

U.S. persons with a financial interest in, or signature authority over, foreign financial assets exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate at any point during the year are required to file the FBAR.  FinCEN Form 114 is the form used to report this compliance obligation.  The FBAR report is not itself an income tax return; it is filed separately from an individual's income tax return, and must be filed electronically.

The due date for the FBAR now tracks the filing deadline for individual taxpayers filing their individual tax returns (this year, April 17, 2018).  While Congress has directed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide extensions of time to file the FBAR, there are no current regulations providing for filing extensions at this time.  Note, however, that in an informational release dated February 22, 2018, the IRS clarified that filers who fail to file their 2017 calendar year FBARs by April 17, 2018 have an automatic extension up to October 15, 2018 to file it.

A U.S. person is broadly defined to include individuals (children included), corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and trusts.

Financial assets include, but are not limited to, bank accounts, securities accounts, mutual funds, and insurance policies or annuities with a cash value.  Further, the IRS and courts may broadly interpret the definition of foreign financial assets.  For example, query whether virtual currency accounts and online gambling accounts qualify as financial asset accounts subject to reporting.

A "foreign financial account" is a financial account located outside the U.S.  An account maintained with a branch of a U.S. bank that is physically located outside of the U.S. is a foreign financial account.  An account maintained with a branch of a foreign bank that is physically located in the U.S. is not a foreign financial account.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions about the foreign financial asset reporting requirements and visit our SD Global Services page to learn more about the services that we offer our clients.

You’ve heard our thoughts… We’d like to hear yours

The Schneider Downs Our Thoughts On blog exists to create a dialogue on issues that are important to organizations and individuals. While we enjoy sharing our ideas and insights, we’re especially interested in what you may have to say. If you have a question or a comment about this article – or any article from the Our Thoughts On blog – we hope you’ll share it with us. After all, a dialogue is an exchange of ideas, and we’d like to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

Material discussed is meant for informational purposes only, and it is not to be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice. Please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, this information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice.

© 2023 Schneider Downs. All rights-reserved. All content on this site is property of Schneider Downs unless otherwise noted and should not be used without written permission.

our thoughts on
Automobile, Tax BY Brett Cubellis
Explaining the Transfer/Advance Payment of Clean Energy Credits and Energy Credits Online Registration
New Research and Development Capitalization Requirement Shuffles System
Contractors May Benefit From SALT Cap Workaround
2023 Legislative & Regulatory Update
Tax BY Kirk Mitchell
Can “Moore” Tax be Refunded from IRS? How to Protect Your Potential Claim for Refund of §965 Foreign Corporation Transition Tax
Fraud, Tax BY Charlotte Garraway
5 Red Flags of Fraudulent ERC Providers
Register to receive our weekly newsletter with our most recent columns and insights.
Have a question? Ask us!

We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a note, and we’ll respond to you as quickly as possible.

Ask us
contact us
Pittsburgh

This site uses cookies to ensure that we give you the best user experience. Cookies assist in navigation, analyzing traffic and in our marketing efforts as described in our Privacy Policy.

×