BREAKING: European Court of Justice rules against Spain's 'FBAR'...

...citing disproportionate penalties, pan-EU capital movement infringement 

Europe's top court has ruled against Spain's Modelo 720 "foreign asset law", declaring that its disproportionate penalties and potentially restrictive effects on the free movement of capital and payments across EU borders were violations of European regulations. 

  • News

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear FBAR case

Foreign Bank Account Report-watchers have long wondered when an FBAR case would finally reach the Supreme Court, and in so doing, at last begin settling questions having to do with the scope of FBAR penalties, which can be draconian.

But as Monday's Supreme Court announcement denying Alice Kimble the writ of certiorari that she had petitioned for back in June showed, the wait for the great, long-awaited FBAR showdown is set to run a little longer than some might have hoped it  would...

  • News

IRS: 'Cryptocurrency accounts to be included in FBAR reports'

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... 

  • Tax

FBAR deadline pushed back to Dec. 31; What the FBAR is, and why it matters

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).... 

  • News

Expat advisers Richardson, La Torre Jeker go looking for ‘Mr. FBAR’

Looking for Mr Goodbar was a 1975 book, made into a film two years later, about a New York City schoolteacher who ended up being murdered by a young man she’d just met. 

“Mr FBAR,” on the other hand – and of rather more relevance here – is an Expatland nickname for a document that U.S. expats around the world have been required to file annually with the IRS since 1970, if their total offshore bank and financial account holdings total US$10,000 or more at any time during the tax year...

  • News

Record penalties sought in California in latest major FBAR case

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is seeking what is said to be a record US$119.6m in penalties over what it has claimed in California district court documents were violations of the FBAR regulations, which require Americans to disclose their overseas financial accounts above a certain amount each year.

  • Tax
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Opinion

FBARs (FinCEN Form 114s), Form 8938s and Form 8966s: not just one but three ways Uncle Sam monitors Americans’ overseas holdings

FBARs (FinCEN Form 114s), Form 8938s and Form 8966s: not just one but three ways Uncle Sam monitors Americans’ overseas holdings

More American expats are familiar these days than they used to be with Foreign Bank Account Reports (“FBARs”), aka FinCEN Form 114s – which need to be filed by American...

Apr-07-2022