Delinquent FBAR submission — can I handle this myself?
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: it applies where there is no unreported income and no examination under way.
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.
I reported the interest but never filed the FBAR — what now?
That is the fact pattern the delinquent route exists for. Where the income from the accounts was reported on your returns and only the account report itself was missed, the reports can be filed late with a statement of reasonable cause and no penalty. The route depends on two things being genuinely true: there is no unreported income behind the omission, and no examination is under way. Both are checked against the returns as filed, not against what you remember filing, because an overlooked slip of foreign interest moves the whole file onto a different track.
Do I have to enter a disclosure programme just to file late FBARs?
Not necessarily. A full disclosure programme is built for filers who have unreported income to correct, and it carries the process and the cost that go with that. Where the income was reported all along and the account report is the only thing missing, the narrower route is the appropriate one. Choosing between them is a question of fact rather than preference. The order of work is therefore to reconcile each year's reported income against each account first, and only then decide which submission to make.
Is the FBAR filed with my tax return?
No, and that is why it is so often missed. It goes to FinCEN through a separate system, not attached to the return, so a filer who has handed everything to a preparer and received a complete-looking return can still have an outstanding obligation. The same separation matters when you are catching up: the late reports are submitted on their own, and the return years they relate to are looked at alongside them to confirm the income was reported. Check what was actually transmitted rather than assuming the return covered it.
Which foreign accounts count towards the filing requirement?
The test is an aggregate one across all your foreign financial accounts, measured at the highest point reached at any time during the calendar year, rather than account by account at the year end. That catches two situations people miss. Small accounts that would never matter alone count towards the total. And an account that was open for part of the year and closed before December is still part of that year's picture. Build the list from every account held at any point in the year before deciding whether a year was reportable.
What should a reasonable-cause statement for a late FBAR say?
It explains how the omission actually came about, in specifics. Who prepared the returns, what they were told about the accounts, what questions were asked, when you first learned of the obligation and what you did once you did. A statement that recites good intentions in general terms gives nothing to assess. Documents matter more than adjectives here: preparer questionnaires, engagement letters, the correspondence in which the subject was or was not raised. The statement is written once the year-by-year reconciliation is finished, so that it describes a file rather than promising one.
Can I use this route if some of the foreign interest was never reported?
No. The route is available where there is no unreported income, so unreported interest, dividends or gains from the accounts takes you out of it. That is a real outcome rather than a technicality, and it is better discovered by us than by an examiner later. If the reconciliation turns up income that was never picked up, the work changes shape: the income years are corrected first, and the account reports are then dealt with on whichever footing is left open. Say so at the outset if you suspect it.
Does the United States tax gifts I receive from a foreign person?
The recipient is not taxed on a gift, and a foreign donor with no US-situs property is outside US gift tax — so often no tax arises on either side. What does arise is reporting: a US person receiving gifts above the annual reporting thresholds from a foreign individual, or from a foreign corporation or partnership at a lower threshold, files the information return for the year. The distinction between a gift and a distribution from a foreign trust matters here, because they are reported differently. See Form 3520.
Do dual citizens have to file US taxes if they live abroad?
Yes. US filing follows citizenship, not residence or where the income arose, and the obligation continues for as long as the citizenship does. Two further obligations travel with it and are keyed to account balances rather than income, so they can apply in a year with no US tax at all: the foreign bank account report to FinCEN, and the specified foreign asset statement with the return. Most people who discover a problem discover it there. See two returns as a dual citizen.
