Democrats Abroad works hard for all Americans Abroad on a number of issues and on FATCA/FBAR in particular. As you may have become aware of over the past few years, Americans with accounts in foreign financial institutions with a total balance across all accounts at any point during the year of US $10,000 or more need to file a FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report) Form 114. This year, for the first time, the form is due for submission on 15 April, as opposed to 30 June as it has been in the past.
As Carmelan Polce, the Singapore-based Chair of the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA) wrote to the DPCA Leadership on 24 March 2017: “I appreciate it has been six months since you had an update from the FBAR/FATCA Task Force, but we’ve all had rather larger, more pressing fears and concerns to contemplate since last fall … and there hasn’t actually been much to say until now.” But now there IS—and the contents of this report are important for YOU as tax-paying Americans abroad. “You may be asked about FATCA and the Trump Government, so we hope these notes will help you to form answers.”
For the full report go to http://www.democratsabroad.org/fbar_fatca_task_force_report
Here are the highlights of the report in a nutshell:
- Democrats Abroad continues to support Residency-based Taxation and believes the proposal that has the best model will entail both fees and penalties for exercising the reporting exemption and be revenue neutral.
- FBAR is due on April 15, 2017 as opposed to June 30, 2017 as it has been in the past, although supposedly there is a six-month automatic extention. DAA does NOT give tax advice–you must check with your tax advisor or FinCen’s website for the filing due date.
- Many Americans living abroad know nothing of their obligation to report to the IRS the earnings they make in their country of residence.
- Double Taxation: Many areas of the tax code were developed without due consideration for the impact they would have on Americans residing abroad.