AAFCPAs Reminds Those With Foreign Assets of Annual April 15 FBAR Deadline

AAFCPAs reminds our clients who have an annual FBAR filing requirement to be sure to report their foreign assets by the IRS’ April 15, 2019 deadline.
Similar to prior years, automatic relief is available. The IRS and US Treasury recently announced that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will now grant filers missing the April 15 deadline an automatic extension until October 15, 2019 to file the FBAR. Specific extension requests are not required.

What is the FBAR?

The “FBAR” is the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Form 114 that must be filed with FinCEN, which is a bureau of the US Treasury Department.

Who Needs to File?

All taxpayers with foreign assets need to review this requirement to determine if they need to file.  Specifically, any direct, or in certain cases, indirect interest in, or signature or other authority over, foreign financial accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time during the tax year requires reporting and filing of the FBAR.  The FBAR Form 114 is not part of filing your tax return and must be separately filed directly with FinCEN.
Please do not ignore the (extended) October 15 Filing Requirement as the Civil and Criminal Penalties for failure to file could be extensive.  The maximum penalty for a non-willful violation is $10,000 and for a willful violation is the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the balance of the account at the time of violation.

AAFCPAs Can Help

AAFCPAs has extensive knowledge of the FBAR filing requirements and can provide guidance in determining whether you need to file and what information is required.  As always, we are also able to assist with the preparation and e-filing of the required forms.
If you have questions please contact Richard Weiner, CPA, MST at 774.512.4078, rweiner@nullaafcpa.com, or your AAFCPAs Partner.