Crypto and the FBAR question — is this a do-it-yourself job?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: the account report covers foreign financial accounts; the asset report covers specified foreign financial assets, and a crypto holding can fall inside one and not the other.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Does holding crypto on a foreign exchange trigger an FBAR filing?
Guidance here has shifted and remains narrower than for a foreign bank account, so the answer depends on the exchange, how the account holds value, and whether it also holds any fiat currency alongside the crypto. Some structures fall squarely inside the reporting net and others sit in genuinely unsettled territory. We assess the specific exchange and account setup rather than applying a blanket rule.
Is a self-custodied crypto wallet treated like a foreign financial account?
Not automatically. A wallet you control directly is treated differently than an account held through a foreign exchange or custodian, because the FBAR framework is built around accounts at financial institutions rather than assets you hold yourself. Where an exchange also offers banking-like features, such as holding cash balances, that can change the analysis. We look at how the specific platform is structured before concluding either way.
What if a foreign crypto account was left off past filings?
Depending on why it was omitted and how the rest of your filings look, there are established routes for correcting past disclosures that range from a straightforward amendment to more formal voluntary disclosure programs. The right route depends on the facts, including whether other reporting was also incomplete, so we review the full history before recommending how to fix it.
Is moving money between my own accounts in two countries taxable?
Moving your own capital between your own accounts is not itself income, so the transfer is not what creates tax. What can create tax or reporting is the income the money earned before it moved, a foreign-exchange gain on certain holdings, and the reporting obligations the balances themselves trigger — foreign account and asset reports keyed to balances rather than income. Remittances out of some countries also need certification before the bank will send them. See foreign account reporting.
What is the penalty for a late T1135 or a missed FBAR?
Both are penalty regimes attached to the form rather than to any tax, which is why people who owed nothing still face them. The Canadian foreign property statement carries a per-month penalty with much larger amounts for a failure that continues or is made knowingly; the US account report is separate again and pivots on whether the failure was wilful. Relief exists — voluntary disclosure, reasonable cause, taxpayer relief — and it narrows once the authority makes contact. The reporting trigger on the US side is an aggregate balance over $10,000 at any point in the year. See late T1135 penalty relief.
