FBAR Tax Compliance Issues (U.S. Taxpayer)

September 23, 2009 by admin
Filed under: FBAR 

FBAR rules are not found in the Code. Rather, they are set forth in the Bank Secrecy Act, first enacted by Congress in 1970. Since 2003, however, the IRS bears responsibility for enforcing these rules.

The FBAR rules require that every U.S. Person report (i) any financial interest or authority over a (ii) financial account in a foreign country with (iii) an aggregate value over $ 10,000 at any time during the taxable year. The report must be filed on a Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (hence the acronym “FBAR”). U.S. Persons must also disclose the existence of the account on their Form 1040, Schedule B, Part III. This is commonly referred to as “checking the ‘B’ box.”
Taxpayers who fail to disclose the account on their Form 1040 could be subject to criminal sanctions for filing a false tax return.

The FBAR report is due on June 30th. This due date is not subject to extensions.  The FBAR report must be filed separately from the U.S. Person’s tax return.

Financial Interest Or Authority
A U.S. Person has a financial interest in a foreign account if he or she is the legal or beneficial owner. Attribution rules apply in making this determination. A person serving as a shareholder, partner, and trustee may also be deemed to hold a financial interest if the owner of the account is (i) a person acting as an agent on behalf of the U.S. Person, (ii) a corporation where the U.S. Person owns, directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent of the outstanding stock, (iii) a partnership in which the U.S. Person owns more than 50 percent of the profits, or (iv) a trust in which a U.S. Person has either a present interest in more than 50 percent of the assets or from which the U.S. Person receives more than 50 percent of the income. If these thresholds arc met, the U.S. Person has an FBAR reporting obligation, regardless of whether he or she has any authority over the account.

Non-owners with authority over a foreign account are also subject to the FBAR reporting rules. Authority means the U.S. Person has the ability to order a distribution or disbursement of funds or other property held in the account. This is not limited to signature authority, but includes the ability to order distributions by verbal commands or other communication. Authority does not include persons who have the right to invest, but not distribute, the foreign account funds.

There is no limitation for taxpayers who have authority over a foreign account, but only in an official capacity. (For example, the president of a corporation, the general partner of a partnership, or the manager of an LLC may be subject to these rules.) 
Both the entity, as beneficial owner, and the representative, who has control over the account, may be required to file an FBAR report. Similarly, when more than one U.S. Person has authority over an account, i.e., president and vice president, both persons may have an FBAR reporting obligation.

Even when the account is subject to joint control, and the signature of someone other than the taxpayer is required to cause a distribution, the taxpayer is still considered to have authority over the account for FBAR reporting purposes.

Financial Account In A Foreign Country
The term financial account is broadly defined as any asset account and encompasses simple bank accounts (checking or savings), as well as securities or custodial accounts. It also includes a life insurance policy or other type of policy with an investment value (i.e., surrender value).

Foreign country naturally refers to any country other than the United States. Puerto Rico, U.S. possessions and territories are included as part of the United States (as they should) for these purposes. Accounts held by U.S. Persons in these areas are not foreign accounts subject to FBAR reporting.

The IRS has indicated that a traditional credit card with a foreign bank is not a foreign account. However; use of a credit card as a debit or check card could trigger foreign account status and thus an FBAR reporting obligation.

$10,000 Threshold
To be reportable, the account must have assets the value of which during the year, exceeds $10,000.

The Instructions to the FBAR report state that if the aggregate value of all financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the year, the U.S. Person must file an FBAR report. A U.S. Person who possesses multiple foreign accounts, all of which have less than $10,000, but which collectively exceed $10,000, may have an FBAR reporting obligation.

Taxpayers may transfer an appreciating asset to a foreign account, such as stock or securities. As these assets increase in value, they may trigger an FBAR reporting requirement.

Whether the account generates any income is not relevant.

Penalties
In an attempt to improve compliance, Congress enhanced the FBAR penalties in 2004. Under pre-2004 law, civil penalties applied only to willful violations. In 2009, civil penalties up to $10,000 may be imposed on non-willful violations. This penalty may be avoided if there was reasonable cause and the U.S. Person reported the income earned on the account. 31 U.S. C. §5321(a)(5).

Although reasonable cause is not defined, the IRS will likely apply the reasonable-cause standard for late-payment/late-filing penalties.

The penalty for willful violations is far more severe. It is equal to the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the balance of the account at the time of the FBAR violation. No reasonable cause exception exists for a willful violation. 31 U. S. C. §5321(a)(5)(c) .

The IRS has six years to assess a civil penalty against a taxpayer that violates the FBAR reporting rules.

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