FBAR Filing Reminders for the Upcoming June 30 Deadline (article)

FBAR Filing Reminders for the Upcoming June 30 Deadline (article)

The deadline for filing the Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), is rapidly approaching. Introduced in September 2013 by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Form 114 FBAR helps monitor U.S. persons’ activity in foreign bank accounts.

U.S. residents, citizens and entities, including corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies with a greater than 50 percent direct or indirect financial interest or signature authority over at least one foreign financial account must file the FBAR if the aggregate value of the account(s) at any time in the calendar year exceeds $10,000. Types of accounts that must be reported include: securities and brokerage accounts; savings, demand, checking and deposit accounts. Tax-qualified retirement plans are excluded from the reporting requirement.

114 Electronic Filing Requirement

Recent changes have affected the filing deadline for Form 114, but not for the 2015 tax year. A form being filed for a tax year beginning prior to December 31, 2015 is required to be submitted to FinCEN before June 30, 2016 (see below for a change in the due date for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015). Form 114 must be filed electronically by using a registered tax software program or by using the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) E-filing System:http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html. The electronically filed Form 114 replaces Treasury Department Form 90-22.1, which was paper filed with FinCEN in previous years.

Form 114a

Those who file jointly with spouses or who arrange for a third-party preparer to file their FBARs also will need to complete FinCEN Form 114a, Record of Authorization to Electronically File FBARs. This form does not need to be filed along with Form 114 but should be kept by the filer and/or third-party preparer along with their FBAR records.

Extended Deferral for Qualified Individuals

Individuals with signature authority but no financial interest in foreign bank accounts belonging to their employer or a closely related entity have had several filing deadline extensions.

Notice 2013-1 pushed back the filing deadline for these qualified individuals to June 30, 2015. On November 24, 2014 FinCEN released Notice 2014-1 to extend the filing due date to June 30, 2016, for individuals whose filing due date for reporting signature authority was previously extended by Notice 2013-1.

On December 8, 2015, FinCEN released Notice 2015-1 to further extend the filing due date to June 30, 2017 for individuals whose filing due date for reporting signature authority was previously extended by Notice 2014-1. This extension applies to the reporting of signature authority held during the 2015 calendar year, as well as all reporting deadlines extended by previous Notices 2014-1, 2013-1, 2012-1, and 2012-2.

Due Date Change

The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 changed the filing deadline for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015 to April 15 of the year immediately following the calendar year being reported. For example, the Form 114 being filed to report the tax year beginning on January 1, 2016 will be due on April 15, 2017. The Act also provides for an extension period of six months ending on October 15.

Details regarding the new filing deadline and the process for requesting an extension will be coming soon. For assistance with electronic filing or for questions about FBAR reporting, please contact us here.


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FBAR Filing Reminders for the Upcoming June 30 Deadline (article)U.S. residents and corporations with more than 50 percent financial interest in foreign bank accounts with more than $10,000  should be preparing for the filing deadline of their Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)....2016-04-04T11:46:00-05:00U.S. residents and corporations with more than 50 percent financial interest in foreign bank accounts with more than $10,000  should be preparing for the filing deadline of their Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).