Wednesday, October 22, 2014

WHERE IS YOUR MONEY?


Do you own an overseas bank account?

Do you gamble on-line?  Do you maintain a balance in your account?

Did you open an account in Switzerland or the Cayman Islands just for fun?

Did your relatives in Europe start a savings account for you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the IRS wants to hear from you.

All foreign accounts must be reported per FBAR.

What is FBAR?  Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts was enacted to preclude U.S Citizens from hiding assets overseas. 

 

This from the IRS:

 If you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, exceeding certain thresholds, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly to the Department of Treasury by electronically filing a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). See the ‘Who Must File an FBAR’ section below for additional criteria.

The penalty for not reporting varies on the amount and number of accounts.  The non-willful can penalty is $10,000.00 per account.  Willful disregard $50,000.00 or more.

Don’t get penalized.  We can file these documents for you, online, the same day.