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FBAR Voluntary Disclosure | International Tax Lawyer & Attorney

I often receive calls from prospective clients who talk about FBAR voluntary disclosure. They usually have no clear idea of what is meant by this term and what its requirements are. In this article, I will discuss this concept of FBAR Voluntary Disclosure and explain how this concept covers a variety of offshore voluntary disclosure options.

FBAR Voluntary Disclosure: What is FBAR?

Before we discuss the meaning of FBAR Voluntary Disclosure, we need to understand what “FBAR” is. FBAR is an acronym for Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, officially known as FinCEN Form 114. US Persons must file FBAR to report their financial interest in or signatory authority or any other authority over foreign bank and financial accounts if the aggregate value of these accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during a calendar year.

FBAR Voluntary Disclosure: Why FBAR Compliance Is So Important?

US taxpayers who fail to comply with their FBAR obligations may find themselves in an extremely difficult legal position, because FBAR has a highly complex and an exceptionally severe penalty system, which includes even criminal penalties for FBAR noncompliance. The form’s civil penalties include not only willful penalties, but also non-willful penalties – i.e. the IRS can assess FBAR penalties even if a taxpayer’s failure to file his FBARs was unintentional and accidental.

FBAR Voluntary Disclosure: What is Voluntary Disclosure?

“Voluntary disclosure” is a process by which taxpayers voluntarily self-correct their past noncompliance. When this process involves foreign assets, it is called “offshore voluntary disclosure”.

FBAR Voluntary Disclosure: Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Options (Tax Year 2020)

The IRS has created a number of voluntary disclosure programs to encourage taxpayers to come forward and correct their past US tax noncompliance. These offshore voluntary disclosure options include: Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures, Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures, Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures (effectively discontinued several weeks ago), IRS Criminal Investigation Voluntary Disclosure Practice (used to be called “Traditional IRS Voluntary Disclosure”) and the now-closed OVDP (Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Process) and OVDI (Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative).

Moreover, there is also a voluntary disclosure based on Reasonable Cause exception that is sometimes called “noisy disclosure”. This is not an official IRS voluntary disclosure program, but simply a voluntary disclosure venue based on specific provisions in the Internal Revenue Code.

Finally, some taxpayers attempt to do “quiet disclosures”. A quiet disclosure can mean a range of actions voluntarily taken by a taxpayer to comply with US international tax laws without officially informing the IRS about his past noncompliance with them. In other words, a taxpayer never takes advantage of any of the voluntary disclosure options and does not claim Reasonable Cause Exception defense; rather, he either files amended tax returns or simply starts to comply with US international tax laws without doing anything about his past noncompliance.

The IRS strongly disfavors quiet disclosures and does not consider them to be voluntary disclosures. In fact, the IRS has officially stated that the agency will try to identify the taxpayers who are doing it and audit them in order to impose penalties for past noncompliance.

FBAR Voluntary Disclosure Versus Offshore Voluntary Disclosure

You probably already noticed that I never listed “FBAR Voluntary Disclosure” as a voluntary disclosure option. The reason is because it is not an official voluntary disclosure option. Rather, FBAR Voluntary Disclosure is merely a term that refers to any offshore voluntary disclosure option involving past FBAR noncompliance (such as Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures).

Hence, when a prospective client calls me to discuss his FBAR voluntary disclosure, I know that he does not mean any specific offshore voluntary disclosure program but merely wishes to know what option he should use to voluntarily correct his past FBAR noncompliance.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office About Your FBAR Voluntary Disclosure

If you have not filed your required FBARs for prior years, you should contact Sherayzen Law Office as soon as possible. Sherayzen Law Office is a leader in offshore voluntary disclosures involving FBARs – this is our core specialty.

We have filed thousands of FBARs for hundreds of clients all over the world. We have prepared hundreds of voluntary disclosures under all offshore voluntary disclosure options, including Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures and Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures. We can help you!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

2018 FBAR Currency Conversion Rates | FBAR Tax Lawyer & Attorney

2018 FBAR and 2018 Form 8938 instructions both require that 2018 FBAR Currency Conversion Rates be used to report the required highest balances of foreign financial assets on these forms. In the case of 2018 Form 8938, the 2018 FBAR Currency Conversion Rates is the default choice, not an exclusive one.

The U.S. Department of Treasury  already published the 2018 FBAR Currency Conversion Rates online (they are called “Treasury’s Financial Management Service rates” or the “FMS rates”).

Since the 2018 FBAR Currency Conversion Rates are very important to US taxpayers, international tax lawyers and international tax accountants, Sherayzen Law Office provides the table below listing the official 2018 FBAR Currency 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 – AFGHANI

74.576

ALBANIA – LEK

107.05

ALGERIA – DINAR

117.898

ANGOLA – KWANZA

310.0000

ANTIGUA – BARBUDA – E. CARIBBEAN DOLLAR

2.7000

ARGENTINA – PESO

37.642

ARMENIA – DRAM

485.0000

AUSTRALIA – DOLLAR

1.4160

AUSTRIA – EURO

0.8720

AZERBAIJAN – NEW MANAT

1.7000

BAHAMAS – DOLLAR

1.0000

BAHRAIN – DINAR

0.3770

BANGLADESH – TAKA

84.0000

BARBADOS – DOLLAR

2.0200

BELARUS – NEW RUBLE

2.1600

BELGIUM – EURO

0.8720

BELIZE – DOLLAR

2.0000

BENIN – CFA FRANC

568.6500

BERMUDA – DOLLAR

1.0000

BOLIVIA – BOLIVIANO

6.8500

BOSNIA – MARKA

1.7060

BOTSWANA – PULA

10.6610

BRAZIL – REAL

3.8800

BRUNEI – DOLLAR

1.3610

BULGARIA – LEV

1.7070

BURKINA FASO – CFA FRANC

568.6500

BURUNDI – FRANC

1790.0000

CAMBODIA (KHMER) – RIEL

4103.0000

CAMEROON – CFA FRANC

603.8700

CANADA – DOLLAR

1.3620

CAPE VERDE – ESCUDO

94.8800

CAYMAN ISLANDS – DOLLAR

0.8200

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – CFA FRANC

603.8700

CHAD – CFA FRANC

603.8700

CHILE – PESO

693.0800

CHINA – RENMINBI

6.8760

COLOMBIA – PESO

3245.8000

COMOROS – FRANC

428.1400

CONGO, DEM. REP – CONGOLESE FRANC

1630.0000

COSTA RICA – COLON

603.5000

COTE D’IVOIRE – CFA FRANC

568.6500

CROATIA – KUNA

6.3100

CUBA – PESO

1.0000

CYPRUS – EURO

0.8720

CZECH REPUBLIC – KORUNA

21.9410

DENMARK – KRONE

6.5170

DJIBOUTI – FRANC

177.0000

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – PESO

49.9400

ECUADOR – DOLARES

1.0000

EGYPT – POUND

17.8900

EL SALVADOR – DOLARES

1.0000

EQUATORIAL GUINEA – CFA FRANC

603.8700

ERITREA – NAKFA

15.0000

ESTONIA – EURO

0.8720

ETHIOPIA – BIRR

28.0400

EURO ZONE – EURO

0.8720

FIJI – DOLLAR

2.1080

FINLAND – EURO

0.8720

FRANCE – EURO

0.8720

GABON – CFA FRANC

603.8700

GAMBIA – DALASI

50.0000

GEORGIA – LARI

2.6700

GERMANY – EURO

0.8720

GHANA – CEDI

4.8250

GREECE – EURO

0.8720

GRENADA – EAST CARIBBEAN DOLLAR

2.7000

GUATEMALA – QUENTZAL

7.7150

GUINEA – FRANC

9076.0000

GUINEA BISSAU – CFA FRANC

568.6500

GUYANA – DOLLAR

215.0000

HAITI – GOURDE

77.1180

HONDURAS – LEMPIRA

25.0000

HONG KONG – DOLLAR

7.8320

HUNGARY – FORINT

280.1700

ICELAND – KRONA

116.1100

INDIA – RUPEE

69.8000

INDONESIA – RUPIAH

14440.0000

IRAN – RIAL

42000.0000

IRAQ – DINAR

1138.0000

IRELAND – EURO

0.8720

ISRAEL – SHEKEL

3.7490

ITALY – EURO

0.8720

JAMAICA – DOLLAR

126.0000

JAPAN – YEN

109.8500

JERUSALEM – SHEKEL

3.7490

JORDAN – DINAR

0.7080

KAZAKHSTAN – TENGE

375.1500

KENYA – SHILLING

101.8000

KOREA – WON

1114.4900

KOSOVO – EURO

0.8720

KUWAIT – DINAR

0.3030

KYRGYZSTAN – SOM

69.8000

LAOS – KIP

8535.0000

LATVIA – EURO

0.8720

LEBANON – POUND

1500.0000

LESOTHO – SOUTH AFRICAN RAND

14.3500

LIBERIA – DOLLAR

156.7100

LIBYA – DINAR

1.3860

LITHUANIA – EURO

0.8720

LUXEMBOURG – EURO

0.8720

MACAO – MOP

no listing

MACEDONIA FYROM – DENAR

53.5000

MADAGASCAR – ARIARY

3470.2000

MALAWI – KWACHA

733.0000

MALAYSIA – RINGGIT

4.1300

MALI – CFA FRANC

568.6500

MALTA – EURO

0.8720

MARSHALL ISLANDS – DOLLAR

1.0000

MARTINIQUE – EURO

0.8720

MAURITANIA – OUGUIYA

36.0000

MAURITIUS – RUPEE

34.1500

MEXICO – PESO

19.6540

MICRONESIA – DOLLAR

1.0000

MOLDOVA – LEU

16.9930

MONGOLIA – TUGRIK

2642.9200

MONTENEGRO – EURO

0.8720

MOROCCO – DIRHAM

9.5300

MOZAMBIQUE – METICAL

61.5300

MYANMAR – KYAT

1535.0000

NAMIBIA – DOLLAR

14.3500

NEPAL – RUPEE

111.6000

NETHERLANDS – EURO

0.8720

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES – GUILDER

1.7800

NEW ZEALAND – DOLLAR

1.4900

NICARAGUA – CORDOBA

32.3000

NIGER – CFA FRANC

568.6500

NIGERIA – NAIRA

361.0000

NORWAY – KRONE

8.6800

OMAN – RIAL

0.3850

PAKISTAN – RUPEE

138.6000

PALAU – DOLLAR

1.0000

PANAMA – BALBOA

1.0000

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – KINA

3.2840

PARAGUAY – GUARANI

5956.0000

PERU – NUEVO SOL

3.3750

PHILIPPINES – PESO

52.4900

POLAND – ZLOTY

3.7530

PORTUGAL – EURO

0.8720

QATAR – RIYAL

3.6400

ROMANIA – NEW LEU

4.0690

RUSSIA – RUBLE

69.6800

RWANDA – FRANC

890.0000

SAO TOME & PRINCIPE – NEW DOBRAS

21.5350

SAO TOME & PRINCIPE – DOBRAS

20941.0080

SAUDI ARABIA – RIYAL

3.7500

SENEGAL – CFA FRANC

568.6500

SERBIA – DINAR

103.3900

SEYCHELLES – RUPEE

13.5500

SIERRA LEONE – LEONE

8620.0000

SINGAPORE – DOLLAR

1.3610

SLOVAK REPUBLIC – EURO

0.8720

SLOVENIA – EURO

0.8720

SOLOMON ISLANDS – DOLLAR

7.7520

SOMALI – SHILLING

575.0000

SOUTH AFRICA – RAND

14.3500

SOUTH SUDANESE – POUND

153.7000

SPAIN – EURO

0.8720

SRI LANKA – RUPEE

182.6000

ST LUCIA – EC DOLLAR

2.7000

SUDAN – SUDANESE POUND

47.0000

SURINAME – GUILDER

7.5200

SWAZILAND – LILANGENI

14.3500

SWEDEN – KRONA

8.9380

SWITZERLAND – FRANC

0.9840

SYRIA – POUND

515.0000

TAIWAN – DOLLAR

30.5880

TAJIKISTAN – SOMONI

9.3500

TANZANIA – SHILLING

2295.0000

THAILAND – BAHT

32.3500

TIMOR – LESTE DILI

1.0000

TOGO – CFA FRANC

568.6500

TONGA – PA’ANGA

2.1730

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO – DOLLAR

6.7700

TUNISIA – DINAR

3.0090

TURKEY – LIRA

5.2830

TURKMENISTAN – NEW MANAT

3.4910

UGANDA – SHILLING

3705.0000

UKRAINE – HRYVNIA

27.7000

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – DIRHAM

3.6730

UNITED KINGDOM – POUND STERLING

0.7810

URUGUAY – PESO

32.3200

UZBEKISTAN – SOM

8310.0000

VANUATU – VATU

111.6900

VENEZUELA – BOLIVAR – SOBERANO

563.9800

VENEZUELA – BOLIVAR – FUERTE

248832.0000

VIETNAM – DONG

23190.0000

WESTERN SAMOA – TALA

2.5350

YEMEN – RIAL

480.0000

ZAMBIA – NEW KWACHA

11.9000

ZIMBABWE – DOLLAR

1.0000