» FBAR

Penalties for willful failure to file reports of foreign financial accounts – commonly called FBARs – are some of the highest civil penalties the government can impose. But until now, no court had been willing to say those fines were excessive. I… Read More

The Ninth Circuit – known as one of the most taxpayer friendly of the federal circuit courts – has joined many other courts in holding that reckless violations of the Bank Secrecy Act were sufficient to uphold willful FBAR penalties. The Court af… Read More

There have been a lot of cases in the last several years defining willfulness in the context of failures to file FBAR forms with the IRS. But a recent decision from the Northern District of California addresses the issue slightly differently. Instead… Read More

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which controls much of the Midwest, has joined several other appellate courts to confirm that recklessness is enough to support willful penalties for FBAR filing failures. Reviewing the case of United States v. Kel… Read More

Expatriates often have a foot in two (or more) countries, physically and financially speaking. This can make it difficult to understand their U.S. tax filing requirements. Add to that the extra requirement of filing FBARs disclosing foreign financial… Read More

Understanding the reporting requirements for U.S. taxpayers with finances overseas can be confusing. It isn’t as easy as whose name is on the account. A recent Court decision provides a helpful guide to determine who has to disclose foreign financi… Read More

The U.S. tax code, including the reporting requirements for foreign bank accounts, can be confusing at best. Non-English speaking taxpayers face additional hurdles due to risks of translation errors and problems understanding the English language, in… Read More

When the IRS issues FBAR penalties against elderly taxpayers, they may have an instinct to ignore the issue and hope it goes away after their death. However, a recent United States District Court case, United States v Gaynor, says your estate could h… Read More