Offshore Assets

Officials of the Internal Revenue Service and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced today they have signed a memorandum of agreement under which FinCEN delegates its enforcement authority for Foreign Bank and Financial Account reporting to the IRS.
The agreement marks the latest step in the IRS effort to seek out people with undisclosed accounts overseas. In January, the IRS announced an initiative to encourage the voluntary disclosure of unreported income by people who have used offshore payment cards or other offshore financial arrangements improperly to avoid paying taxes. Back in April 15, 2003 taxpayers had to apply for benefits of the Offshore Voluntary Compliance Initiative (OVCI).
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. residents or a person in and doing business in the United States must file a report with the U.S. Treasury if he or she has a financial account in a foreign country with a value exceeding $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. Taxpayers comply with this law by noting the account on their tax return and by filing Form 90-22.1, the Foreign Bank and Financial Account Report (FBAR). Willfully failing to file an FBAR report can be punished under both civil and criminal law.