Tax Due Dates & The FBAR: Get With The New Program Peeps!

Manasa Nadig

Remember all that excitement around the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act? Yes, I bet you do! We talked about it here. So it is here- the new FinCEN Form 114 (aka FBAR) filing deadline!

For those who are new to Foreign Bank Account Regulations (FBAR), a quick refresher:

The Bank Secrecy Act, P.L. 91-508, and its regulations require FBAR reporting from “each United States person having a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, a bank, securities, or other financial account in a foreign country”, if the aggregate maximum values in that person’s foreign accounts exceed $10,000 at any time during the calendar year (31 C.F.R. §1010.350(a)) and (31 C.F.R. §1010.306(c)).

FBAR reporting applies to U.S. persons, as defined by regulations under Title 31, which along with individuals can also include certain corporations, partnerships, trusts, estates, and other entities. While this is a broader requirement than for individuals required to file Form 8938, the latter has been extended in recent regulations to include certain specified domestic entities.

Also see my first post on the subject here and the second here.

New FBAR Extension and Due Dates

The Act changes the deadline for the FBAR from June 30th to the April 15th, which is the due date for an individual who is resident in the United States. In addition to this, the FBAR can be extended for a period of six months ending October 15th, just as an Individual tax return.

For those who are not resident in the United States and have to file a US tax return, there is an automatic 2 month extension until June 15th {Under § 1.6081-5}. Under the Act now this extension is available to their FBAR filing as well.

For those who are filing an FBAR for the first time, the Act specifically states that, “[f]or any taxpayer required to file [an FBAR] for the first time, any penalty for failure to timely request for, or file, an extension, may be waived by the Secretary.”

These due dates are applicable to those returns filed after December 31st, 2015.

How To Extend Your FBAR?

According to the information put out on the FinCEN Website, “FinCEN will grant filers failing to meet the FBAR annual due date of April 15 an automatic extension to October 15 each year. Accordingly, specific requests for this extension are not required”.

What Happens If You Filed Your Tax Return On Time But Not The FBAR?

From information put out by FinCEN and experts weighing in, it has been explained that the six-month extension is automatic for each year and the taxpayers do not have to request extensions.
Please contact your Enrolled Agent or other tax professional if you think you may be impacted by the above changes.

I am Manasa Nadig, enrolled to practice and represent taxpayers with the Internal Revenue Service. I have been in the business of Tax Preparation & Tax Planning since 1999. My firm, MN Tax Solutions, LLC is based in Michigan, USA. Please connect with me on TaxConnections for more information about myself & the services provided by my firm.

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