Your FBAR Due Date is June 30th… No Extensions!
Don’t get stomped by the IRS! If you have authority over a bank account outside of the United States, and you had $10,000 or more in that account or accounts for even one day in 2014, you must file an Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) by June 30, 2015.
Here’s everything you need to file your 2014 FBAR online and on time.
Fyi… the official name of the FBAR changed in 2013 from TD F 90-22.1 to FinCEN Report 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. We in the business simply call it the FBAR.
Even if your personal return is on extension until October 15, you must file your your FBAR by June 30. Extending your personal return does not affect your FBAR due date.
And its the combined value of all of your offshore accounts that counts toward the $10,000 threshold. So, if you had 3 offshore bank accounts at 3 different banks, each with $5,000, you had a total of $15,000 offshore and must file.
The information you will need to gather to prepare this form is:
- Name of your bank
- Address of your bank
- Your account number
- Highest balance in the account during the year
Any U.S. citizen, green card holder, or resident with an offshore account must file the Foreign Bank Account Report. There are a few exceptions, but if you have an offshore company, trust, foundation, LLC, or a foreign personal account, you need to file.
If you are uncertain, file! There is no cost to filing and the penalties for getting it wrong are extreme.
Exceptions to the FBAR filing requirement are:
- United States persons included in a consolidated FBAR
- Correspondent/Nostro accounts
- Foreign financial accounts owned by a governmental entity
- Foreign financial accounts owned by an international financial institution
- Owners and beneficiaries of U.S. IRAs
- Participants in and beneficiaries of tax-qualified retirement plans
- Certain individuals with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, a foreign financial account
- Commentary: This exception is intended for traditional investment managers… those managing other people’s money. Don’t rely on this section if you have an offshore company and manage your own investments.
- Trust beneficiaries (but only if a U.S. person reports the account on an FBAR filed on behalf of the trust)
- Foreign financial accounts maintained on a United States military banking facility.
Review the FBAR instructions and the IRS website for more information on the reporting requirement and on the exceptions to the reporting requirement.
You should file your FBAR online through the BSA e-filing system. For more information on e-filing see my post New FBAR Filing Requirements for 2014.
