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2021 FBAR Deadline in 2022 | FinCEN Form 114 International Tax Lawyer & Attorney

The 2021 FBAR deadline is a critical deadline for US taxpayers this calendar year 2022. What makes FBAR so important are the draconian FBAR penalties which may be imposed on noncompliant taxpayers. Let’s discuss the 2021 FBAR deadline in more detail.

2021 FBAR Deadline: Background Information

The official name of FBAR is FinCEN Form 114, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. US Persons must file FBAR if they have a financial interest in or signatory or any other authority over foreign financial accounts if the highest aggregate value of these accounts is in excess of $10,000. FBARs must be timely e-filed separately from federal tax returns.

Failure to file an FBAR may result in the imposition of heavy FBAR penalties. The FBAR penalties vary from criminal penalties and willful penalties to non-willful penalties. You can find more details about FBAR penalties in this article.

2021 FBAR Deadline: Pre-2016 FBAR Deadline

For the years preceding 2016, US persons needed to file FBARs by June 30 of each year. For example, the 2013 FBAR was due on June 30, 2014. No filing extensions were allowed.

The last FBAR that followed the June 30 deadline was the 2015 FBAR; its due date was June 30, 2016. Due to the six-year FBAR statute of limitations, however, it is important to remember this history for the purpose of offshore voluntary disclosures and IRS FBAR audits. The 2015 FBAR’s statute of limitations will expire only this year – on June 30, 2022.

2021 FBAR Deadline: Changes to FBAR Deadline Starting with the 2016 FBAR

For many years, the strange FBAR filing rules greatly confused US taxpayers. First of all, it was difficult to learn about the existence of the form. Second, many taxpayers simply missed the unusual FBAR filing deadline.

The US Congress took action in 2015 to alleviate this problem. As it usually happens, it did so when it passed a law that, on its surface, had nothing to do with FBARs. The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (the “Act”) changed the FBAR deadline starting with 2016 FBAR. Section 2006(b)(11) of the Act requires the FBARs to be filed by the due date of that year’s tax return (i.e. usually April 15), not June 30.

Furthermore, during the transition period (which continues to this date), the IRS granted to US taxpayers an automatic extension of the FBAR filing deadline to October 15. Taxpayers do not need to make any specific requests in order for an extension to be granted.

Thus, starting with the 2016 FBAR, the Act adjusted the FBAR due date to coincide with the federal income tax filing deadlines. This is the case even if federal law requires a different filing date. For example, in situations where the tax return due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the IRS must delay the due date until the next business day; the FBAR deadline will follow suit and also shift to the next business day.

2021 FBAR Deadline

Based on the current law, the 2021 FBAR deadline will be April 18, 2022. However, it is automatically extended to October 17, 2022.

The 2021 FBAR must be e-filed through the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) BSA E-filing system.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help With Your FBAR Compliance

If you have unreported foreign accounts, contact Sherayzen Law Office as soon as possible. Sherayzen Law Office is a leader in US international tax compliance and offshore voluntary disclosures. We have successfully helped hundreds of US taxpayers around the globe with their FBAR compliance and FBAR voluntary disclosures; and we can help you!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

2021 FBAR Conversion Rates | FBAR Tax Lawyer & Attorney

The 2021 FBAR conversion rates are highly important in US international tax compliance. The 2021 FBAR and 2021 Form 8938 instructions both require that 2021 FBAR conversion rates be used to report the required highest balances of foreign financial assets on these forms (in the case of Form 8938, the 2021 FBAR conversion rates is the default choice, not an exclusive one). In other words, the 2021 FBAR conversion rates are used to translate foreign-currency highest balances into US dollars for the purposes of FBAR and Form 8938 compliance.

The U.S. Department of Treasury  already published the 2021 FBAR conversion rates online (they are called “Treasury’s Financial Management Service rates” or the “FMS rates”).

Since the 2021 FBAR conversion rates are highly important to US taxpayers, international tax lawyers and international tax accountants, Sherayzen Law Office provides the table below listing the official 2021 FBAR conversion rates (note that the readers still need to refer to the official website for any updates).

Country – Currency Foreign Currency to $1.00
AFGHANISTAN – AFGHANI103.4000
ALBANIA – LEK105.9500
ALGERIA – DINAR138.2840
ANGOLA – KWANZA562.4400
ANTIGUA – BARBUDA – E. CARIBBEAN DOLLAR2.7000
ARGENTINA – PESO107.7500
ARMENIA – DRAM485.0000
AUSTRALIA – DOLLAR1.3750
AUSTRIA – EURO0.8820
AZERBAIJAN – NEW MANAT1.7000
BAHAMAS – DOLLAR1.0000
BAHRAIN – DINAR0.3770
BANGLADESH – TAKA86.0000
BARBADOS – DOLLAR2.0200
BELARUS – NEW RUBLE2.5440
BELGIUM – EURO0.8820
BELIZE – DOLLAR2.0000
BENIN – CFA FRANC581.8400
BERMUDA – DOLLAR1.0000
BOLIVIA – BOLIVIANO6.8200
BOSNIA – MARKA1.7240
BOTSWANA – PULA11.7100
BRAZIL – REAL5.6680
BRUNEI – DOLLAR1.3520
BULGARIA – LEV New1.7240
BURKINA FASO – CFA FRANC581.8400
BURMA – KYAT1,769.5000
BURUNDI – FRANC1,989.1000
CAMBODIA – RIEL4051.0000
CAMEROON – CFA FRANC578.2400
CANADA – DOLLAR1.2770
CAPE VERDE – ESCUDO97.2200
CAYMAN ISLANDS – DOLLAR0.8200
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – CFA FRANC578.2400
CHAD – CFA FRANC578.2400
CHILE – PESO842.5000
CHINA – RENMINBI6.3730
COLOMBIA – PESO4030.4300
COMOROS – FRANC434.7300
CONGO – CFA FRANC578.2400
COSTA RICA – COLON638.2700
COTE D’IVOIRE – CFA FRANC581.8400
CROATIA – KUNA6.4500
CUBA – Chavito1.0000
CYPRUS – EURO0.8820
CZECH REPUBLIC – KORUNA21.4170
DEM. REP. OF CONGO – FRANC1,987.8000
DENMARK – KRONE6.5560
DJIBOUTI – FRANC177.0000
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – PESO56.7900
ECUADOR – DOLARES1.0000
EGYPT – POUND15.6800
EL SALVADOR – DOLARES1.0000
EQUATORIAL GUINEA – CFA FRANC578.2400
ERITREA – NAKFA15.0000
ESTONIA – EURO0.8820
ETHIOPIA – BIRR49.1320
EURO ZONE – EURO0.8820
FIJI – DOLLAR2.1030
FINLAND – EURO0.8820
FRANCE – EURO0.8820
GABON – CFA FRANC578.2400
GAMBIA – DALASI52.0000
GEORGIA – LARI3.0750
GERMANY – EURO0.8820
GHANA – CEDI6.0500
GREECE – EURO0.8820
GRENADA – EAST CARIBBEAN DOLLAR2.7000
GUATEMALA – QUENTZAL7.7000
GUINEA BISSAU – CFA FRANC581.8400
GUINEA – FRANC9234.2000
GUYANA – DOLLAR215.0000
HAITI – GOURDE99.7710
HONDURAS – LEMPIRA24.2540
HONG KONG – DOLLAR7.7990
HUNGARY – FORINT326.3200
ICELAND – KRONA129.9800
INDIA – RUPEE74.3430
INDONESIA – RUPIAH14,195.2800
IRAN – RIAL42,000.0000
IRAQ – DINAR1,458.5400
IRELAND – EURO0.8820
ISRAEL – SHEKEL3.0990
ITALY – EURO0.8820
JAMAICA – DOLLAR155.0000
JAPAN – YEN115.0400
JORDAN – DINAR0.7080
KAZAKHSTAN – TENGE436.8800
KENYA – SHILLING113.0500
KOREA – WON1,188.9200
KOSOVO – EURO0.8820
KUWAIT – DINAR0.3020
KYRGYZSTAN – SOM84.7910
LAOS – KIP11,148.8000
LATVIA – EURO0.8820
LEBANON – POUND1,500.0000
LESOTHO – MALOTI15.8820
LIBERIA – DOLLAR143.7000
LIBYA – DINAR4.5870
LITHUANIA – EURO0.8820
LUXEMBOURG – EURO0.8820
MADAGASCAR – ARIARY3,902.0000
MALAWI – KWACHA920.0000
MALAYSIA – RINGGIT4.1750
MALDIVES – RUFIYAA15.4200
MALI – CFA FRANC581.8400
MALTA – EURO0.8820
MARSHALL ISLANDS – DOLLAR1.0000
MARTINIQUE – EURO0.8820
MAURITANIA – OUGUIYA37.0000
MAURITIUS – RUPEE43.7500
MEXICO – PESO20.5310
MICRONESIA – DOLLAR1.0000
MOLDOVA – LEU17.6370
MONGOLIA – TUGRIK2,848.6300
MONTENEGRO – EURO0.8820
MOROCCO – DIRHAM9.2710
MOZAMBIQUE – METICAL 63.2000
NAMIBIA – DOLLAR15.8820
NEPAL – RUPEE119.3500
NETHERLANDS – EURO0.8820
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES – GUILDER1.7800
NEW ZEALAND – DOLLAR1.4600
NICARAGUA – CORDOBA35.5000
NIGER – CFA FRANC581.8400
NIGERIA – NAIRA405.0000
NORWAY – KRONE8.7780
OMAN – RIAL0.3850
PAKISTAN – RUPEE177.9700
PANAMA – BALBOANot Listed
PANAMA – DOLARES1.0000
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – KINA3.5090
PARAGUAY – GUARANI6,854.0000
PERU – SOL3.9690
PHILIPPINES – PESO51.0300
POLAND – ZLOTY4.0530
PORTUGAL – EURO0.8820
QATAR – RIYAL3.6400
REP. OF N MACEDONIA – DINAR54.2300
REPUBLIC OF PALAU – DOLLAR1.0000
ROMANIA – NEW LEU 4.3610
RUSSIA – RUBLE74.9990
RWANDA – FRANC1000.0000
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE – NEW DOBRAS21.6230
SAUDI ARABIA – RIYAL3.7500
SENEGAL – CFA FRANC581.8400
SERBIA – DINAR103.5800
SEYCHELLES – RUPEE13.3300
SIERRA LEONE – LEONE11,221.7000
SINGAPORE – DOLLAR1.3520
SLOVAK REPUBLIC – EURO0.8820
SLOVENIA – EURO0.8820
SOLOMON ISLANDS – DOLLAR7.8860
SOMALI – SHILLING575.0000
SOUTH AFRICA – RAND15.8820
SOUTH SUDANESE – POUND421.0000
SPAIN – EURO0.8820
SRI LANKA – RUPEE202.7500
ST LUCIA – E CARIBBEAN DOLLAR2.7000
SUDAN – SUDANESE POUND449.0000
SURINAME – GUILDER19.5310
SWAZILAND – LANGENI15.8820
SWEDEN – KRONA9.0250
SWITZERLAND – FRANC0.9140
SYRIA – POUND2,511.0000
TAIWAN – DOLLAR27.7070
TAJIKISTAN – SOMONI11.2800
TANZANIA – SHILLING2,302.0000
THAILAND – BAHT33.4000
TIMOR – LESTE DILI1.0000
TOGO – CFA FRANC581.8400
TONGA – PA’ANGA2.2290
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO – DOLLAR6.7590
TUNISIA – DINAR2.8760
TURKEY – NEW LIRA12.9560
TURKMENISTAN – NEW MANAT3.4910
UGANDA – SHILLING3,537.0000
UKRAINE – HRYVNIA27.3220
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – DIRHAM3.6730
UNITED KINGDOM – POUND STERLING0.7400
URUGUAY – PESO44.4500
UZBEKISTAN – SOM10,805.7000
VANUATU – VATU111.2200
VENEZUELA – BOLIVAR SOBERANO4.5780
VENEZUELA – FUERTE (OLD)248,832.0000
VIETNAM – DONG22,765.0000
WESTERN SAMOA – TALA2.5650
YEMEN – RIAL580.0000
ZAMBIA – NEW KWACHA16.6320
ZIMBABWE – RTGS105.9490

Happy New Year 2022 From Sherayzen Law Office!!!

Dear clients, followers, readers and colleagues:

Sherayzen Law Office wishes you a very Happy New Year 2022!!!

For those of you who are currently not in compliance with their US international tax reporting obligations, including FBAR or FinCEN Form 114, we wish you to successfully resolve your prior noncompliance in this new year 2022 with a minimal amount of IRS penalties!

Dear friends, in the year 2022, you can continue to rely on Sherayzen Law Office for your annual US international tax compliance (including the preparation of FBAR and other US international tax compliance forms such as: Forms 3520, 3520-A, 5471, 8621, 8865, 8938 and 926), your international tax planning (inbound and outbound) and your offshore voluntary disclosures (including: Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (SDOP), Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP), Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures, Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures, IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice and Reasonable Cause Disclosures).

In 2022, we will also continue to help you with your IRS audits and examination, including audits of: your prior SDOP and SFOP submissions (as well as other voluntary disclosure options) and your annual international tax compliance. We can also help you fight the imposition of IRS penalties for prior international tax noncompliance, including Form 3520 and 3520-A penalties, Form 5471 penalties, Form 5472 penalties, Form 8865 penalties, Form 926 penalties, et cetera.

In 2022, the US international tax compliance requirements are going to grow more complex, detailed and extensive. The IRS will continue to demand more and more information from US taxpayers, introducing heretofore unknown reporting obligations such as Schedules K-2 and K-3.

In order to deal with this ever-increasing US tax compliance burden, you will need the professional help of Sherayzen Law Office. In this New Year 2022, we can help you!

Your professional US international tax help is but a phone call away from you! Contact us today to schedule a confidential consultation in this New Year 2022!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022 EVERYONE!!!

Sacramento FBAR Attorney | International Tax Lawyer California

If you are a resident of Sacramento (California) and you have foreign accounts, you would be looking for a Sacramento FBAR Attorney in California. In your search, you could consider out-of-state attorneys such as Mr. Eugene Sherayzen of Sherayzen Law Office, Ltd. (“Sherayzen Law Office”). Let’s explore in more detail why this is the case.

Sacramento FBAR Attorney: International Tax Attorney

First of all, it is very important to understand that, by looking for a Sacramento FBAR attorney, in reality, you are looking for an international tax attorney whose specialty includes FBAR compliance.

Ever since the FBAR enforcement was turned over to the IRS (in 2001), the term FBAR attorney applies almost exclusively to tax attorneys.

Moreover, FBAR enforcement belongs to a very special field of US tax law – US international tax law. The reason for this is simple: FBAR is an information return concerning foreign assets and the tax compliance concerning foreign assets and foreign income belongs to US international tax law. Hence, when you look for an FBAR attorney, you are looking for an international tax attorney with a specialty in FBAR compliance.

Sacramento FBAR Attorney: Out-Of-State International Tax Attorney

Further, it is important to note that, since you are looking for an attorney who specializes in US international tax law (i.e. a federal area of law), you do not need to limit yourself to lawyers who reside in Sacramento, California. On the contrary, consider international tax attorneys who reside in other states and help Sacramento residents with their FBAR compliance.

Sherayzen Law Office is an international tax law firm that specializes in US international tax compliance, including FBARs. While our office is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we help taxpayers who reside throughout the United States, including Sacramento, California.

Sacramento FBAR Attorney: Broad Scope of Compliance

When retaining a Sacramento FBAR Attorney, consider the fact that such an attorney’s work is not limited only to the preparation and filing of FBARs. Rather, the attorney should be able to deliver a variety of tax services and freely operate with experience and knowledge in all relevant areas of US international tax law, including the various offshore voluntary disclosure options concerning delinquent FBARs.

Moreover, as part of an offshore voluntary disclosure, a Sacramento FBAR Attorney often needs to amend US tax returns, properly prepare foreign financial statements according to US GAAP, correctly calculate PFICs, and complete an innumerable number of other tasks.

Mr. Sherayzen has helped hundreds of US taxpayers worldwide to bring their tax affairs into full compliance with US tax laws. This work included the preparation and filing of offshore voluntary disclosures concerning delinquent FBARs. Sherayzen Law Office offers help with all kinds of offshore voluntary disclosure options, including: SDOP (Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures), SFOP (Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures), DFSP (Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures), DIIRSP (Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures), IRS VDP (IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice) and Reasonable Cause disclosures.

Thus, if you are looking for a Sacramento FBAR Attorney, contact Mr. Sherayzen as soon as possible to secure Your Confidential Consultation!

2021 FBAR Civil Penalties | IRS FBAR Tax Lawyer & Attorney

As if they were not high enough, the US Congress has obligated the IRS to adjust FBAR civil penalties for inflation on an annual basis. In this article, I will provide a broad overview of the current FBAR penalty system and describe the current 2021 FBAR civil penalties.

2021 FBAR Civil Penalties: Overview of the FBAR Penalty System

FinCEN Form 114, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly known as “FBAR”), has always had a very complex, multi-layered system of penalties, which has grown even more complicated over the years. These penalties can be grouped into four categories: criminal, willful, non-willful and negligent.

Of course, the most dreaded penalties are FBAR criminal penalties. Not only is there a criminal fine of up to $500,000, but, in some case, a person can be sentenced to 10 years in prison for FBAR violation (and these two criminal penalties can be imposed simultaneously). Since the focus of this article is on FBAR civil penalties, I will not devote more time to the discussion of FBAR criminal penalties here.

The next category of penalties are FBAR civil penalties imposed for the willful failure to file an FBAR. These penalties are imposed per each violation – i.e. on each account per year, potentially going back six years (the FBAR statute of limitations is six years).

The third category of penalties are FBAR penalties imposed for a non-willful failure to file an FBAR or a filing of an incorrect FBAR. These penalties can be imposed on US persons who do not even know that FBAR exists.

Finally, with respect to business entities, a penalty can be imposed for a negligent failure to file an FBAR or a filing of an incorrect FBAR.

It is important to note that FBAR has its own reasonable cause exception that may be used to fight the assessment of any of the aforementioned civil penalties. Moreover, each of these penalty categories has numerous levels of penalty mitigation that a tax attorney may utilize to lower his client’s FBAR civil penalties.

2021 FBAR Civil Penalties: Penalties Prior to November 2 2015

Prior to November 2, 2015, FBAR penalties were not adjusted for inflation and stayed flat at the levels mandated by Congress. Let’s go over each category of penalties prior to inflation adjustment.

As of November 1, 2015, Willful FBAR penalties were up to $100,000 or 50% of the highest balance of an account, whichever is greater, per violation. Again, a violation meant a failure to correctly report an account in any year. Non-willful FBAR penalties were up to $10,000 per violation per year; it is far less clear what “violation” meant in this context. At that time, the IRS took a clear position that non-willful FBAR penalties are imposed on a per account basis similarly to willful penalties, but the validity of this position has been heavily compromised by recent court decisions. Finally, FBAR penalties for negligence were up to $500 per violation; if, however, there was a pattern of negligence, the negligence penalties could increase ten times up to $50,000 per violation.

2021 FBAR Civil Penalties: Inflation Adjustment

The situation changed dramatically in 2015. As a result of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (“2015 Inflation Adjustment Act”), Congress mandated federal agents to: (1) adjust the amounts of civil monetary penalties with an initial “catch-up” adjustment; and (2) make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation. The inflation adjustment applied only to civil penalties.

The “catch-up” adjustment meant a huge increase in penalties, because federal agencies were required to update all of these penalties from the time of their enactment (or the last year the Congress adjusted the penalties) through November of 2015. This meant that, in 2015, the penalties jumped to account for all accumulated multi-year inflation. The catch-up adjustment was limited to two and a half times of the original penalty.

Fortunately, the Congress adjusted FBAR penalties in 2004 and the “catch-up” adjustment did not have to go back to the 1970s. It still meant a very large (about 25%) increase in FBAR civil penalties, but it was not as dramatic as some other federal penalties.

2021 FBAR Civil Penalties: Bifurcation of FBAR Penalty System

The biggest problem with the inflation adjustment, however, was the fact that it further complicated the already dense multi-layered FBAR system of civil penalties – FBAR penalties became dependent on the timing of a violation and IRS penalty assessment. In essence, the 2015 Inflation Adjustment Act split the FBAR penalty into two distinct parts.

The first part applies to FBAR violations that occurred on or before November 2, 2015. The old pre-2015 FBAR penalties described above applies to these violations irrespective of when the IRS actually assesses the penalties for these violations. The last FBAR violations definitely eligible for the old statutory penalties are those that were made concerning 2014 FBAR which was due on June 30, 2015. The statute of limitations for the 2014 FBAR ran out on June 30, 2021.

The second part applies to all FBAR violations that occurred after November 2, 2015. For all of these violations, the exact amount of penalties will depend on the timing of the IRS penalty assessment, not when the FBAR violation actually occurred. In other words, if an FBAR violation occurred on October 15, 2017 and the IRS assessed FBAR penalties June 17, 2021, the IRS would use the inflation-adjusted FBAR penalties as of the year 2021, not October 15, 2017.

2021 FBAR Civil Penalties: Penalties Assessed On or After January 28, 2021

Now that we understand the history of FBAR penalties, we can specifically discuss the 2021 FBAR civil penalties. The first thing to understand is that we are talking about penalties assessed by the IRS on or after January 28, 2021; prior to that date, the 2020 FBAR civil penalties were still effective.

The 2021 Willful FBAR penalty imposed under 31 U.S.C. §5321(a)(5)(C)(i)(I) is $136,399 per violation. So far, for willful FBAR penalties, “violation” is applied on a “per account for each year” basis described above. Last year (i.e. penalties assessed after February 19, 2020 and before January 28, 2021), the willful penalty was $134,806.

The 2021 Non-Willful FBAR penalty imposed under 31 U.S.C. §5321(a)(5)(B) is $13,640 per violation; last year, the non-willful penalty was $13,481. The term “violation” in the context of non-willful FBAR penalties at this point has not been settled. Starting last year and culminating with the recent 11th Circuit court decision, the courts have been applying the term “violation” on a per-form (rather than per-account) basis. It other words, a taxpayer can argue that a non-willful violation of $13,481 should be applied per each delinquent FBAR rather than each account reported on an FBAR. This is of course a highly beneficial approach (for taxpayers) to FBAR penalty imposition, but it is still a struggle to get the IRS to accept this position.

The 2021 Negligence FBAR penalty imposed under 31 U.S.C. §5321(a)(6)(A) is $1,166; if there is a pattern of negligence under 31 U.S.C. §5321(a)(6)(B), then the penalty goes up to $90,743. Last year, the respective amounts were $1,146 and $89,170.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help With Your Prior FBAR Noncompliance

Sherayzen Law Office is a leader in US international tax law and FBAR compliance. We have successfully helped hundreds of clients from over seventy countries resolve their prior FBAR noncompliance concerning disclosure of their foreign bank and financial accounts. We can help you!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!