I just received the new FBAR form from my accountant. He said that while not required to use the new form, he strongly recommends it.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f90221.pdf

I am posting the link as separate thread so US people who file early didn't miss the new form if the want to use it and if they want to prepare it while preparing the new IRS form 8938 for reporting foreign assets.

just throwing an FYI for everyone that the form has a strict filing deadline of June 30th, 2012 with no extensions, but as MrMert suggested great to knock it out when preparing for the 4/15 deadline.

What 4/15 deadline? (As a non-resident, your filing deadline is automatically extended to june 15th, you need only include with your tax return a short letter claiming your right to the extension.)

Yup. It's printed numerous times in the instructions for filing taxes.

But this form says not to file it with your tax return. :X

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My comment was not about the FBAR, but about the "4/15 deadline" for the tax return.

Why do they need this info? And what right do they have to it?

In reverse order: The "right" is established by US law which permits the Treasury or its agencies (IRS) to collect information that it believes may be useful in detecting or collecting unpaid taxes....just as any law enforcement agency (US, CH, DE, etc) may seek information it deems relevant.

As to "why", hundreds of court cases have established that there is widespread tax evasion thanks to the generous help of foreign banks (e.g. Wegelin or UBS), and tracking foreign financial accounts is considered useful. (Whether the info is really helpful is a matter of opinion, I don't believe there is any public data on what the Treasury has ever done with these forms.)

No, it is "CLAIMED" by US law, it is NOT a RIGHT!

Whether that is legal or not is another matter.

Tom

And it's 4/17 this year, just to round out the pedantry.

Hi. Does anyone know if this form has to be filed for "pillar 2" or "2nd pillar" pensions? My wife is Swiss and had some Swiss bank accounts and pensions that she finally closed out in 2011. Her banks accounts didn't exceed $10K, so she normally wouldn't be required to submit that form. However, if her pension counts as an foreign account, she'd be over that threshold. Anyone have experience with this?

IRS says it should be reported unless it is a qualified plan under their rules. You can look under the IRS description for filling out the FBAR Form. Many foreign pensions do not qualify according to my accountant. I had a discussion with my pension administrator to find out what type of pension it was, showing him the IRS guidelines and then I had my US accountant review it and then get agreement with the IRS that it was qualified. I did this because they raised the penalty for not reporting to such a high level that I did not want to make an error. This year I have to go through the same thing for the form 8938. My accountant thinks they want all accounts reported.

If the pension is your wife's pension and she is swiss - and it is only in her name, I do not think this needs to be reported.

And I have a question: a charity with which I volunteer has asked me to help with the financial administration side of things ; the accounts are all in the charitys' name, but if I take on this role I would have signing authority.

Am I right in thinking that since I am a US citizen this would subject the charity (a German organization) to FBAR /FATCA reporting?

According to my read of the 12 pages of instructions, yes, foreign pensions generally are non-qualifed and thus require reporting.

I understand the signing authority is covered in FBAR, but not in form 8938 (FATCA). Not at all sure how it would apply to a charity, but as only US and Israel and some Canadian charties qualify as US charities, I am not sure it would apply.

Depends if filing jointly or not I believe.

Thanks, MrMert and others. The pension was in my wife's name only. She has Swiss and American citizenship. We filed our 2010 returns jointly and will do the same for our 2011 returns. We probably don't need to file an FBAR form for 2011 because she withdrew her pension funds last year, but I'm wondering if we should file a late form for 2010? I'm also not sure how to claim the withdrawal on our 2011 returns. I started another thread about that after not finding an answer in the forums.

almeida: Pension accounts, per the IRS, are maintained (under the control of) either (a) the beneficiary (your wife), or (b) someone else (your wife's employer, or the gov't). Examples: an IRA account is in group (a), a pension plan or social security account is in group (b).

So, the issue if very simple: who holds the funds (is the custodian) for a "2nd pillar" account, and can the beneficiary (your wife) change that custodian, or change the investment of funds? ("Yes" to either = you should file the FBAR; "no" to both = don't file.)

The IRS has not issued a formal opinion on CH pensions, and pensions are not explicitly addressed in the FBAR form instructions. In practice, that means the IRS is not about to prosecute folks on this matter.