The deadline by when the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) needs to receive public comments as to how it might best "streamline, modernize, and update" the United States' existing anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime is fast approaching, advocates of a change in these regulations have told the American Expat Financial News Journal. 

The IRS needs to change its regulations with respect to American taxpayers' obligations to report on their overseas account holdings by "eliminating duplication" of the FBAR and FATCA reporting requirements, as well as by "excluding accounts maintained by U.S. persons in countries where they are bona fide residents," National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins has told Congress, in her annual report.

The last few weeks have seen the price of Bitcoin soar, accompanied by a roar of commentary from those who see it, and other cryptocurrencies, as the future.  

This latest round of Bitcoin mania was kicked off earlier this month, when (Bitcoin fan) Elon Musk's car company, Tesla, announced in an SEC filing that it had bought US$1.5bn worth of the cryptocurrency, and that it would also begin accepting Bitcoin in payment for its products... 

Virginia La Torre Jeker, a Dubai-based U.S. expat tax law practitioner and well-known blogger on American tax issues, will hold a one-and-a-half-hour-plus, live online training session for FBAR preparers and/or their clients on March 16, accompanied by Jimmy Sexton, another international tax expert who is also based in Dubai. 

FinCEN, the U.S. Treasury Department bureau that's responsible for overseeing the receipt of Foreign Bank Account Reports, is inviting comments "on the proposed renewal, without change, of existing information collection requirements concerning reports of foreign financial accounts and... Report[s] of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)".

The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has quietly removed from its website its surprise announcement, posted Oct. 14, that the final deadline for  Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) filings had been moved to Dec. 31, from Oct. 15.

Instead, it has clarified that the extended Dec. 31 FBAR filing deadline applied only to "victims of recent natural disasters", such as "victims of the California wildfires, the Iowa Derecho, Hurricane Laura, the Oregon wildfires, and Hurricane Sally".

But it has nevertheless now moved the deadline for everyone else back to Oct. 31 – in other words, extended it by two weeks.

The introduction of the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) requirement in 1970, as a result of the Bank Secrecy Act of that year, may well be one of the most enduring legacies of the Nixon administration, says John Richardson, a Toronto-based lawyer who helps Americans with citizenship issues. Here, he reveals a little-known aspect of what the fine print of the FBAR legislation actually says, with respect to non-Americans who travel to the U.S., and who happen to have bank accounts back home...

Editor's note: The news about the date when FBARs for the year ending on Dec. 31, 2019 are due has changed.
Please see our most recent report on this subject.

As U.S. tax experts will tell you, today, Oct. 15, is the extended deadline for all U.S. expats to have their 1040 tax returns filed; and, until yesterday, it was also "FBAR Day." Which is to say, the day when FBARs for the year ending Dec. 31, 2019 were also due. 

As of yesterday, though, FBAR Day has been pushed back to Dec. 31, 2020, according to a notice posted on the website of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which oversees FBARs, (even though the IRS handles tax returns).... 

A U.S. taxpayer has been hit with almost US$13m in FBAR penalties, following a U.S. District Court ruling in Florida earlier this month, in what experts say is one of the largest individual FBAR assessments ever.