Deadline to File FBAR Reporting Signature Authority
Deadline to File FBAR Reporting Signature Authority
The Nov. 1, 2011 deadline for persons who have signature authority over, but no financial interest in, foreign financial accounts to file Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) is quickly approaching. This deadline was extended by IRS in Notice 2011-54, 2011-29 IRB 53, in order to give those individuals extra time to gather the necessary information to file complete and accurate FBARs for 2009 and earlier calendar years.
Background. Each U.S. person who has a financial interest in or signature or other authority over any foreign financial accounts, including bank, securities, or other types of financial accounts in a foreign country, if the aggregate value of these financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, must report that relationship each calendar year by filing TD F 90-22.1 with the Department of the Treasury on or before June 30th of the succeeding year.
In Notice 2009-62, 2009-35 IRB 260, IRS extended the deadline to June 30, 2010, to file a FBAR for years 2008 and earlier, for (i) persons with no financial interest in a foreign financial account but with signature or other authority over that account; and (ii) persons with a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account in which the assets are held in a commingled fund (see Federal Taxes Weekly Alert 08/13/2009).
In Notice 2010-23, 2010-11 IRB 441, which modified and supplemented Notice 2009-62, IRS deferred the deadline for persons with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, a foreign financial account for which a FBAR would otherwise have been due on June 30, 2010, until June 30, 2011. This deadline applied to FBARs reporting foreign financial accounts for the 2010 and prior calendar years (see Federal Taxes Weekly Alert 03/04/2010). Both of these extensions were provided to give Treasury more the time to develop comprehensive FBAR guidance.
On Feb. 24, 2011, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule to amend the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regs regarding FBAR reporting requirements (see Federal Taxes Weekly Alert 03/03/2011). The rule was made effective as of Mar. 28, 2011 and applies to 2010 reports required to be filed by June 30, 2011, and those for subsequent years. It largely adopted the proposed regs issued on Feb. 26, 2010, which provided additional guidance and clarification regarding who must file FBARs (see Federal Taxes Weekly Alert 03/04/2010).
Deadline further deferred. In response to comments that individuals with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, foreign financial accounts were having difficulty gathering the necessary information to file complete and accurate FBARs for 2009 and earlier calendar years by the June 30, 2011 deadline, IRS pushed the deadline back to Nov. 1, 2011 in Notice 2011-54, 2011-29 IRB 53 (see Federal Taxes Weekly Alert 06/23/2011). However, the June 30, 2011, deadline for reporting either signature authority over, or financial interest in, foreign financial accounts for the 2010 year remained unchanged. IRS also stressed that Notice 2011-54, had no effect on the requirements to provide information or file FBARs in connection with IRS’s 2009 or 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs.
Extended deadline quickly approaching. Individuals with signature authority over foreign financial accounts are reminded of the looming Nov. 1, 2011 deadline to file FBARs for 2009 and earlier calendar years.
Although the deadline has been extended a number of times in the past, there has been no indication that it will be further extended.