In the latest in a series of cases that experts say has potentially major repercussions for expatriate Americans, a U.S. District Court in California has ruled that the penalty for a so-called "non-willful" failure to file foreign bank account reports (FBARs) should be calculated on a "per-FBAR", annual form basis, rather than for each bank account held by the American taxpayer in question outside the U.S.

The introduction of the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) requirement in 1970, as a result of the Bank Secrecy Act of that year, may well be one of the most enduring legacies of the Nixon administration, says John Richardson, a Toronto-based lawyer who helps Americans with citizenship issues. Here, he reveals a little-known aspect of what the fine print of the FBAR legislation actually says, with respect to non-Americans who travel to the U.S., and who happen to have bank accounts back home...

Editor's note: The news about the date when FBARs for the year ending on Dec. 31, 2019 are due has changed.
Please see our most recent report on this subject.

As U.S. tax experts will tell you, today, Oct. 15, is the extended deadline for all U.S. expats to have their 1040 tax returns filed; and, until yesterday, it was also "FBAR Day." Which is to say, the day when FBARs for the year ending Dec. 31, 2019 were also due. 

As of yesterday, though, FBAR Day has been pushed back to Dec. 31, 2020, according to a notice posted on the website of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which oversees FBARs, (even though the IRS handles tax returns).... 

As American expats and their tax preparers come down to the final stretch of the Oct. 15 Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBAR) deadline, concerns are emerging over whether the data they’re about to send to the U.S. could, at some point, fall into the wrong hands.

In a case experts say has potentially major repercussions for expatriate Americans, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has ruled that the penalty for so-called "non-willful violations" of the U.S. Foreign Bank Account Reporting regulations should be calculated on a "per-FBAR", rather than per account, basis.

A U.S. taxpayer has been hit with almost US$13m in FBAR penalties, following a U.S. District Court ruling in Florida earlier this month, in what experts say is one of the largest individual FBAR assessments ever.

For various reasons, people, including those with U.S. tax obligations,  have long taken advantage of the option to use so-called "nominees" to hold legal title to some of their non-U.S. assets. But while there can be arguably good reasons for doing so, especially in countries where Shariah Law can dictate how assets are distributed when someone dies, it can also result in huge and unexpected problems.

Here, in an excerpt from her most recent blog, Dubai-based tax expert Virginia La Torre Jeker considers some of the issues that can arise.