Whenever I mention the acronym FBAR, Americans often say one of two things: “F what??” or “I don’t need to do that.”
What’s an FBAR?
The “Report of Foreign Bank Accounts” (FBAR) is a required U.S. government form, which is important in the post-9/11 world. The purpose of the form is to alert the authorities about accounts held outside the United States with a total value of $10,000 or more at any time during the year.
Can I just skip it?
Bad idea. If you have reportable FBAR assets that you don’t disclose, the fines can be severe. If you neglect to file or file incorrectly, you can face fines that are greater than the value of the accounts that you didn’t include on the form.
The FBAR for 2016 is due on April 15, 2017. It provides a list of accounts that you have signature authority on, interest in, or are named as a holder, so the American government can track the path of money transfers in the hope of reducing money laundering.
Is there a legal workaround?
The only legal workaround is to have the sum of foreign assets below the reporting threshold. Since that is difficult if you have pension and/or savings accounts in Israel, another option is to minimize the number of accounts you must report. If you keep the majority of your assets in an American bank or brokerage account, you don’t need to list those funds on an FBAR. Why? Because the government only requires reports on foreign accounts.
If you want to review your investment accounts to see whether they’re considered to be in the U.S. or abroad, send me an email with the details (doug@profile-financial.com) or call (02-624-2788) and let’s begin a conversation.
Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, is the Director of Profile Investment Service, Ltd., which specializes in helping people who live in Israel with their US dollar assets and American investment and retirement accounts. He helps olim meet their financial goals through asset allocation, financial planning, and using money managers.
Published October 13, 2016.