In Mr. FBAR We ”Trust” (pun intended)

February 23, 2022 - Participants Include:

Virginia La Torre Jeker - @VLJeker

John Richardson - @Expatriationlaw

Prologue - Report Early! Report Often! Report Everything! Keep A Record Of What You Report!

In October of 2018, Virginia and I went "Looking For Mr. FBAR." During the last three years we have uncovered many clues, we have learned many things, but it's clear that we have not yet located Mr. FBAR. Virginia has written about many of her "sightings" in a series of "FBAR posts". I have also written a number of posts documenting the various adventures of Mr. FBAR.

Mr. FBAR is elusive. He is is simultaneously not anywhere, but everywhere. There is no weapon in the US arsenal of forms that has created such fear and uncertainty. He has even threatened certain visitors to the United States for the failure to file an FBAR.

Legal Authorization

The statutory authorization which gave birth to Mr. FBAR is found in 5314 of the Bank Secrecy Act. Most of the substantive law is found in Treasury Regulations and the IRS instructions. It's important to note that Mr. FBAR lives in Title 31 (Bank Secrecy Act) which is different from Title 26 (Internal Revenue Code).

Mr. FBAR And The Filing Obligations Of Trusts

This podcast is a discussion of how Mr. FBAR impacts "trusts". When is a trust a United States person? When must a trust file an FBAR to report the "financial accounts" of a related purpose of entity?