Foreign Asset Reporting Requirements

A U.S. person may need to report a foreign retirement plan on one or more information reporting forms. The forms which are most commonly associated with tax problems areform 8938 and FBAR.

FBAR, on the other hand, is required of all US citizens and resident aliens who have fiscal foreign accounts which exceed more than $10,000 at any point during the year. The IRS has a number of complex regulations regardingforeign assetsand how they are reported, any of which can cause headaches for those filing. To give you some insight into the FBAR and other relevant forms, here is Ayar Law’s guide to foreign asset reporting requirements. Under the OVDP’s previous mandates , participants paid a penalty of 27.5-percent of the highest aggregate balance of their value of offshore assets during the prior eight years.

Person, it does not matter whether or not you have to file a US tax return to determine if you have to file an FBAR. The threshold question is whether you have an annual aggregate total of foreign/offshore bank accounts, financial accounts, retirement accounts, etc. that when combined, exceed $10,000.

For aggregate values exceeding $10,000, Form TD F 90-22.1, Foreign Bank Account Reporting , must be filed separately from tax returns and submitted electronically by June 30, 2014. Filing Form 8938 does not excuse citizens from filing the FBAR form, and unlike Form 8938, FBAR applies to LLCs, corporations, partnerships, trusts, and estates, not just individual taxpayers. Whiling filling information in the ITR form regarding the foreign assets acquired during the last three months of the FY , the taxpayer would have to answer as 'Yes'. However, the exhaustive details required to be filled in the Schedule FA of the ITR form would be 'Nil' as they were acquired after the relevant accounting period of foreign country. This was creating problems while validating ITR forms, which is important while generating the XML file to be uploaded on the e-filing website to file the tax return.

In order to encourage more taxpayers to participate in the OVDP , the IRS’ he new program has reduced the penalties associated with failure of reporting the foreign assets .In exchange, the IRS requires additional information from the taxpayer. The CRA currently has available a Voluntary Disclosure Program that may be an option for taxpayers who have not complied with their T1135 form filing obligation. If the CRA accepts a Voluntary Disclosure Application, the taxpayer will not be charged tax penalties or prosecuted for failure to file, omitting information in a T1135 form, or making false statements.

Be careful and reach out to a tax practitioner as soon as possible if you have foreign (non-Canadian) assets costing CAD $100,000 or more that have not been reported. In the case of specified foreign (non-Canadian) assets held in an account with a Canadian registered securities dealer , taxpayers may use the "Aggregate Reporting Method". Under this method, taxpayers have the option to aggregate assets held in the account, but must report the property on a country-by-country basis. The amount to be reported has to be the highest fair market value , which may be based on the highest month-end FMV that appears on the investment statements, but reported on a country-by-country basis. The combined income and losses, and gains or losses also need to be reported on a country-by-country basis.

When required, it must be filed with the rest of your annual tax return. Whether or not your foreign financial account has produced taxable income, you’ll still need to report it on FBAR. Living abroad and filing a joint income tax return will affect whether or not you need to report these assets.

Because regulators have developed rigorous reporting requirements for many kinds of foreign assets, approaching such accounts with careful attention will ensure that you can meet your obligations and demonstrate that you are not ignoring Uncle Sam. IRS Form 8938 is a tax form used by some U.S. taxpayers, corporations, partnerships, and trusts that hold foreign assets beyond a certain threshold.

Certain U.S. taxpayers holding specified foreign financial assets with an aggregate value exceeding $50,000 will report information about those assets on new Form 8938, which must be attached to the taxpayer’s annual income tax return. Higher asset thresholds apply to U.S. taxpayers who file a joint tax return or who reside abroad . For individuals, it requires reporting of financial accounts and certain specified foreign assets (ownership in businesses, life insurance, etc.). There are different threshold requirements, depending on whether a person is Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separate /Single, and whether a person resides in the United States or outside of the United States. As stated, Form 8938 isn’t the only document that taxpayers with assets outside the U.S. will be required to submit.

If so, you are required to file the FBAR Form and report all of the accounts. U.S. taxpayers may own foreign assets or accounts for a variety of reasons ranging from investment opportunities to the convenience of local banking when living abroad.