Final FBAR Filing Extension

The IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have done it again. More filing extensions for Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)! Over the past few weeks the agencies have jointly issued two FBAR filing extensions. The latest applies to officers and employees of SEC registered investment advisors and individuals with signatory but NO financial interest in certain foreign financial accounts. In both situations, the deadlines have been extended to allow additional time to meet compliance requirements.

Key Point: Both the IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network recently announced another new FBAR filing deadline extension. This extension applies only to individuals under specific conditions for certain filing years.

New FBAR Extensions

The original filing deadline of June 30, 2011 has been extended one year to June 30, 2012 for officers and employees of SEC registered investment advisors who have signatory authority, but no financial interest in the foreign accounts of persons that are not registered investment companies.

Final FBAR regulations state that officers and employees of SEC registered investment advisors are not required to report their authority over foreign accounts that are owned or maintained by registered investment companies (assuming there is no financial interest). However, this exception does not apply to signatory authority over accounts owned by non-registered investment companies! Due to the confusion and questions from industry professionals on how to comply, an extension was issued to give more time to address such concerns.

Due to confusion and difficulty obtaining the necessary documentation to properly complete the FBAR filing a 3 month extension was issued. The original deadline of June 30, 2011 has been extended to November 1, 2011 for pre-2010 FBAR filings for those with signatory authority, but no financial interest in a foreign financial account. It is important to note that this extension only applies to FBAR filings for 2009 and earlier, and does not apply to FBAR filings for 2010! The deadline for submitting the 2010 FBAR filing was June 30, 2011.

Multiple FBAR Deadlines

The IRS and FinCEN have released several FBAR filing extensions over the past months. To help clarify the list of changes and who they apply to, we have provided a compliance chart to help identify which deadline(s) apply to your situation.

Filer

Deadline

 

 

An officer of employee of a regulated entity with signature or other authority over, but no financial interest in, the foreign account of a controlled person.

 

June 30, 2012

 

An officer or an employee of a controlled person of a regulated entity with signature or other authority over, but no financial interest in, the foreign account of a regulated entity, the controlled person, or another controlled person of the regulated entity for the year 2010 and prior years.

 

June 30, 2012

 

An officer or employee of a SEC registered investment adviser with signature or other authority over but no financial interest in, the account of a non-registered investment company for the year 2010 and prior years.

 

June 30, 2012

 

 

 

ANY person not otherwise covered by ANY FinCEN Notices described above that has signature or other authority over, but no financial interest in, an account for 2009 and earlier years but not including 2010.

 

November 1, 2011

 

 

All other filers for all other years.

 

June 30, 2011

Contact Us

If you are unsure which FBAR filing deadlines apply to you, then CONTACT US NOW. There are multiple deadlines to meet based on the filing year, level of authority, and financial interest in a foreign financial account. For additional information please contact Mark Chaves, CPA, Partner-In-Charge of International Tax, at 561-367-1040, or click here to email Mark. In a brief conversation he can help dispel any confusion and provide you with the needed advice to ensure you are in compliance with all regulatory mandates.