Reporting Foreign Bank Accounts To The Us Govt.

[Jingthing]

I know most US expats know about this requirement. I filed my first one this year and have every intention of always reporting. Not so much because I am a good guy but because the penalties would be ruinous! The stated financial penalties for not reporting are shockingly severe.

Now I know this reporting law is a way to catch criminals, and if you are a criminal you won't be talking about this. However, I am wondering if you are a US expat, have you ever suffered these penalties or even heard of anyone suffering these penalties?

[ProThaiExpat]

No haven't heard of any and my guess is that they rely on discretionary enforcement principles, going after only those who are money launderers or dope dealers that are hard to convict under other laws.

Remember Al Capone and how he got his?

Anyway, I no longer need to worry, having never reported, as I only bring in 10k at a time, not for that reason, but because of interest rates higher elsewhere. A major advantage of the pension + approach at immigration is not having to be in violation of this Treasury regulation every time you top off for immigration purposes.

I truly wonder if they would be successful in a prosecution against a retiree, who had no other source of income except that obtained in the U.S. and then transferred overseas, the source of the income being subject to scrutiny under U.S. banking laws.

My guess is they are trying to monitor income obtained overseas and kept overseas by U.S. Citizens for tax purposes and money laundering purposes.

[JimGant]

Anyway, I no longer need to worry, having never reported, as I only bring in 10k at a time

But, if your account has anything in it when you wire that 10k (or you have any other active accounts), then you're supposed to file with the Feds. Wiring chunks of 10k or less does not avoid the criteria:

Each Unites States person, who has a financial interest in or signature authority, or other authority over any

financial accounts, including bank, securities, or other types of financial accounts in a foreign country, if the aggregate value of

these financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year,

But, as PTE says, this requirement is certainly a means to snag the real crooks, not us little folks.

Having said that, however, I *do* file, since the Feds do have the ability to see my wire transfers -- plus, the following really got my attention:

Civil and criminal penalties, including in certain circumstances a fine of not more than $500,000 and

imprisonment of not more than five years, are provided for failure to file a report, supply information, and for filing a false or fraudulent report.

And, filling out the form (TD F 90-22.1) is no real hassle. So, why take the chance some hotshot, snot-nosed Fed gets a bug up one of these days..............