Guide on FBAR Reporting Requirements

Caplin & Drysdale Attorneys Offer Comprehensive Guide on FBAR Reporting Requirements

Guide Discusses Regulations, Penalties, Enforcement, and Other Recent Developments

In association with Bloomberg BNA, Caplin & Drysdale’s Zhanna A. Ziering, Mark E. Matthews, and Niles A. Elber authored the Tax Management Portfolio entitled “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR),” a first of its kind publication that discusses the rules and regulations relating to the FBAR filing compliance, penalties, developments relating to the definition of “willfulness,” trends in penalty enforcement (e.g., prosecution, litigation, and voluntary disclosure programs), possible penalty defenses, and collection of FBAR penalties.  The FBAR form is considered “one of the driving forces behind the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service’s enforcement push on offshore accounts,” said Mr. Matthews, a Member of Caplin & Drysdale’s Tax Controversies team.  Please visit this link to access the Guide.

Designed to identify transactions that may show evidence of money laundering, tax evasion, and other criminal activities, the FBAR requires U.S. persons with foreign bank accounts to report such relationships on timely filed FBARs.  Failure to file the FBAR or maintain the required records carries steep statutory penalties, especially if the government determines that the violation was willful.  With ongoing enforcement, more and more financial institutions, tax advisers, and their high-net-worth clients are seeking legal guidance on the FBAR.  “We’re seeing much more enforcement activity around this form,” Mr. Matthews added, “and this publication offers a useful resource in that regard.”  Before this publication, there has been no such comprehensive guide on FBARs.

For more information, please contact the authors at zziering@capdale.com, mmatthews@capdale.com, and nelber@capdale.com.