subject: Description Of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (fbar) [print this page] The Internal Revenue Service introduced the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative that enables you to come clean and report all of your offshore accounts since 2003 if you have not filed the correct FBAR forms so far. The OVDI required that you supply copies of your earlier tax returns and amend those returns as needed to file the full TD F 90-22. The next step demands that you waive the tax assessing time period for the IRS while they inspect your condition, which means that you will not be protected by the statute of limitations for these years. The FBAR penalties can add up to as much as 25% of the aggregate balance of all your offshore accounts. Once you have paid all the penalties, taxes and fines you can then file a form to end the case on IRS form 906. Yet, if you are experiencing criminal or civil investigation you are not eligible to take part in the OVDI program.
The FBAR forms have to be filed each year once you have opened and still hold foreign accounts. The penalties are severe and can even result in prison time if you do not report correctly. Not filing past forms is the way that the majority of people get into a dilemma with this type of process. They might also attempt to file more than one form at once by sending them separately, which is just as bad as not submitting them at all. It is vital that you file in accordance to the law as a way to get around FBAR penalties.
Even when you do not owe taxes from a preceding year, you should still file the appropriate FBAR forms as the anchor still pertain for not submitting the correct forms. Unless you take pleasure in serving prison time you should not try to get around filing FBAR forms. The rules for FBAR forms can be baffling and difficult to navigate, but it is important to have competent representation when you commence this procedure so as to eliminate any doubt over whether you have complied with the present laws. If you have never filed before it is unlikely that you can stay under the radar forever and once you are caught, the penalties are brutal, so it is best to find help now and get the FBAR Forms filed and out of your way.
