If you have offshore financial accounts, you are required to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). If you failed to file this report, then you may face criminal prosecution and penalties based on the balance of the account during each year it went unreported. In one recent case, an individual with unreported offshore accounts actually faced penalties that exceeded the total value of the overseas account.
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Archive by Month: June 2014
Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Changes Explained by Your Local Boston Tax Attorney
Offshore Account UpdatePosted on June 21, 2014
Since 2009, the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) has made it possible for more than 45,000 taxpayers to declare offshore foreign accounts that they had failed to disclose in the past. The OVDP was designed to reduce penalties that would be associated with a failure to disclose a foreign account. Unfortunately, the program was very limited and many people who wanted to take advantage of it were unable to do so.
Read MoreAn 87-year-old Florida man faces FBAR penalties equal to approximately 150 percent of the value of his Swiss bank account. FBAR penalties are assessed when U.S. persons with investments in foreign banks fail to complete and file an annual Report of Foreign Bank And Financial Accounts (Form TD F 90-22.1).
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