The Internal Revenue Service has recently began enforcement of Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) and disclosure of offshore assets.

U.S. law states that 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.

​Any income resulting from the foreign bank account must be reported on an individuals income tax return and certain Taxpayers with specified foreign financial assets that exceed a certain threshold must report the foreign assets on an income tax return.  

The penalties for failing to file a FBAR and or income associated from the foreign account can be very severe. We can help with FBAR compliance and depending on the facts of the case, recommend taxpayers to make a Voluntary Disclosure of the foreign accounts and assets, or have the taxpayer comply with certain "Streamlined" filing procedures.