I, along with other tax professionals, liken the FBAR to going after jaywalkers with shotguns. Well, a few fewer jaywalkers need worry about the FBAR for this year. The IRS announced today that individuals in two categories will not need to file FBARs:
- An employee or officer of a covered entity who has signature or other authority over and no financial interest in a foreign financial account of another entity more than 50 percent owned, directly or indirectly, by the entity (a “controlled person”).
- An employee or officer of a controlled person of a covered entity who has signature or other authority over and no financial interest in a foreign financial account of the entity or another controlled person of the entity
For anyone in those categories, the deadline for filing FBARs has been delayed one year until June 30, 2012.
One final reminder: Individuals with online poker accounts in 2010 do not need to file FBARs. However, third party processing accounts based overseas are foreign financial accounts and you may need to file an FBAR for those accounts. The penalties for not filing an FBAR when required are draconian, so this is definitely time to file. The deadline is June 30th and there are no extensions available.
Tags: FBAR