Taxpayers who have foreign accounts or interests that exceed $10,000 at any point during the year must submit a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) website.  This notifies the U.S. Treasury Department of the accounts.

According to the IRS, failing to submit the form can result in a maximum penalty of $12,921.  Willful violations are even steeper.  These can result in penalties of $129,210 or 50-percent of the amount in the account – whichever total is larger – for each violation.  Each year you did not file can be treated as a separate violation.

If you are facing criminal charges for FBAR violations, the penalties can also include possible prison time.

To avoid these penalties, it is important to work with your tax attorney to file delinquent FBAR forms as soon as possible.

Procedure to Submit Delinquent FBAR Forms

According to the IRS, individuals who have not filed a required FBAR form, who are not under a civil investigation for criminal investigation by the IRS, and who have not already been contacted by the IRS about delinquent FBARs, can submit delinquent FBAR forms.

To file a delinquent FBAR form, a person must follow these steps as outlined by the IRS:

• Review the instructions
• Include a statement explaining why the taxpayer is filing his or her FBAR late
• File the delinquent FBARs on the FinCEN website
• Select a reason – as given on the electronic form – for why the FBAR is late

Contact a Tax Attorney

If you failed to submit an FBAR form for your foreign bank accounts, call Ayar Law at 800.571.7175 to receive free, no-obligation tax case review.