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Abstract: 

Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) filing obligations are a widely misunderstood element of U.S. tax reporting obligations aimed at tracking the direct and indirect foreign financial holdings of U.S. persons. FBAR filing obligations arise independently of a U.S. accountholder’s compliance with a foreign financial institution’s due diligence under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Given the intensive enforcement activities in this area in recent years and the growing web of multilateral reporting requirements, it is important not only that U.S. accountholders know their filing obligations, but also that the financial institutions with respect to which they must report understand and encourage full compliance with the law. This article addresses the ten most common misconceptions about the FBAR filing obligation, and sets out several options for voluntarily correcting FBAR reporting errors and omissions.

Keywords: Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, FATCA, foreign bank account, FBAR, offshore, voluntary disclosure

Affiliations:  1: Latham & Watkins; 2: Latham & Watkins.