Who must file?

Any U.S. citizen, residency card holder, or U.S. tax resident must file if their total foreign account balances are over $10,000 USD at any time during the year. A U.S. tax resident is defined as someone who is was physically present in the U.S. over 183 days during the calendar year.

How to file?

Your foreign bank account report must be electronically filed with the FinCEN department.

When to file?

The foreign bank account report needs to be filed each year that you meet the requirements of filing. The due date is April 15 (usually, unless there is a holiday or weekend) of the following year you have a filing requirement. The form is automatically extended to October 15 (usually, unless there is a holiday or weekend) and the FinCEN department must be in receipt of the filing by October 15.

What if I don’t file?

If you do not file each year by October 15, the FinCEN department could impose a $10,000 penalty per year that you are delinquent.

What if I should have filed? Do I have to pay the penalty?

If you should have filed but didn’t there are amnesty programs available to let you file late without penalty. Please reach out to us today for a free consultation to see if you qualify for one of these filing programs.