4-minute Money Ideas

What Should You Do About the FBAR? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® - helping olim handle U.S., IRA, investment, and brokerage accounts from Israel 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 is due on June 30 for the preceding year. 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 t