Filing the (FinCEN Report 114) FBAR online

[connda]

US expats with bank accounts in foreign countries with an aggregate amount of over $10000 must submit the FinCEN Report 114 formally known as the FBAR. If you're married or retired and keep 400K to 800K baht in a Thai bank for visa purposes, like I do, this applies to you.

I thought filing online would be straight forward: It wasn't.

Start by going to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) E-Filing system at http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html

You're going to need the version of Adobe Reader that they used to make these forms. I'd suggest using the links and downloading Adobe Reader. If you have problems later on, I'd suggest uninstalling Adobe Reader and reinstalling one of their linked versions. http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/Enroll_Now_Step_04.html

Once Adobe Reader is installed, click on the Prepare FBAR click which will download a copy of the form to your computer. After it is downloaded, find the file and double click it to open it in Adobe Reader. Take time to review what is on the form. Instructions for filling out the form are located on the right hand of the web page FBAR (FinCEN 114) Line Item Electronic Filing Instructions. It's not an easy form to read.

Once you fill out your FBAR completely, you need to validate it by clicking on the Validate button. If everything is alright, you must sign and then save the form by clicking on the SIGN and then then Save button. Once saved, the Ready to File button will activate.

This is where I had problems. Clicking the Ready to File button would take me to a web page where I enter my email address, Name, and Telephone number. At the bottom of the page under "Please select the Individual FBAR (pdf) you are attempting to file:" is a browse button. Ideally you'd select your validated, signed, and saved FinCEN Report 114. What I got back instead was a warning notice that my validated, signed, and saved FinCEN Report 114 PDF file was not (according to the system) a real PDF file. Needless to say I filled out a customer service request and sent it to [email protected] with a frantic plead for help.

It's been three days since I sent a request for help and I've not heard anything back yet, so I tried something new. I had been using Firefox version 27 to submit the form. I remembered I had problems last year too, so I decided to try bringing up https://bsaefiling1.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFilerUpload using Internet Explorer version 11.0.3. Filled out the information, browsed for the form, hit submit, and "Bob's your Uncle" -- It worked and sent me a confirmation number to my screen and a duplicate to my email address. So be aware, for purposes of filing this form, Firefox may not be your friend.

Never a dull moment and nothing is ever easy. But, I got it filed. It really should not be this much of a headache. Anyway, I'll wait to see how long it take at get a response from the BSA help desk just to give others an idea of their response time. If you have issues filing, you might want to share on this post and we can learn together. Best of luck!

Edited March 4, 2014 by connda

[connda]

I did get an email back from the BSA Help Desk three working day after submitting my request. Their recommendation was to use Internet Explorer when filing your FBAR form. Best of luck for those who file.

[FredLee]

Thanks for the info. Additionally, the Mac OS is not supported either. Their IT staff must be people they just pull off the street.

[connda]

Thanks for the info. Additionally, the Mac OS is not supported either. Their IT staff must be people they just pull off the street.

I guess you could always run a Windows emulator like WINE. Definitely not an ideal solution.

[wym]

No IT company worth its salt - one that is actually successful in the private sector - would bother bidding for a government contract, too much red tape, very limited profits.

No IT professional in the same category would ever bother working for a company that wasn't in that category, not enough incentive and very soul-destroying work environment.

[JimGant]

It's FBAR time again, so thought I'd give this a bump.

The problems connda experienced last year seemed to have been fixed. I just filed using Acrobat Pro 8.1.3 and Firefox 35 (just make sure you tell Firefox to open PDF's with "Adobe Acrobat", not "Adobe Acrobat in Firefox").

FinCEN comes across as adamant that you have to use Adobe Reader -- but this is not true:

Our site requires use of the free Adobe Reader product to properly display our interactive FBAR. Please ensure you have the Adobe Reader installed on your system and you have opened the Adobe Reader application and accepted the License Agreement and made the Adobe Reader the default application for opening PDFs.....Your browser settings must be updated to open the FBAR PDF directly in the Adobe Reader as the default PDF viewer to properly display our interactive FBAR PDF.

But, of course, if you want to use Adobe Reader (or have to, since you don't have Acrobat), no problem -- if it's a newer version. Just point Firefox (or whatever browser) to Acrobat Reader.

On my oldest computer I have Acrobat Pro 8.0. For sure that didn't work -- and I didn't have to learn that fact by trial and error -- a pop up box told me flat out I needed a newer version. (I suppose this would happen if your Adobe Reader is also dated.) And, as I said, the Acrobat version I used was version 8.1.3 -- which has been around a few years. My newest computer has Acrobat Pro X -- and as expected, that works just fine (at least it did up to the point before you submit, which I'd already done earlier with 8.1.3).

Make sure you go to the site that requires no registration or pin... http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html

....and not to the original site you bookmarked a few years back (which does require registration and a pin -- if it's still even functional).

Didn't see any difference this year in procedure nor the layout of the form (the no registration, no pin procedure was implemented last year).

After submittal, I got a near immediate email acknowledging receipt -- then three days later an acceptance confirmation.

Instructions for FX rates have you use the Dec 31st figure from this site:http://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsreports/rpt/treasRptRateExch/treasRptRateExch_home.htm

The figure is 32.92 for Dec 31, 2014

So, if you've nothing better to do, get your FBAR filing out of the way. Firing up your tax software in a couple of months won't relieve you from doing the actual key strokes for the FBAR filing, now that paper filing is no longer allowed. Of course you could wait until June 29th -- when surely any Adobe product you choose will crash on you.

[Rooo]

Moved to Home Country Forum.

[mesquite]

Thanks for the update, JimGant.

Edited January 20, 2015 by mesquite

[pmarlin]

Don't know why this is in the home country forum because it only applies to those who are not living in the United States or who have financial interest outside of the United States, but any way filled it today with no problems using adobe 9. It was time consuming filling out the report but easy to submit.

[smo]

First of all I wanted to thank JimGant for the very helpful and timely reminder and encouragement (I needed that!)

Now, I don’t know what I did wrong…I filed the FBAR report for 2014 last Thursday. All went well up to the end when the website gave me a confirmation screen that says:

“We have received your submission. Please confirm the following confirmation and retain it for your records. We will notify you the status of your submission via email.”

Then follow the tracking number and all my contact info (name, phone, email.) etc.

I understand that a few folks on this thread upon submission have also received in addition to the confirmation described above, almost simultaneously another confirmation via email and then 3 working days later another email to confirm the status of the submission (“all is well, you’re good”?).

Well I filed the report last Thursday Bangkok time, and today is Wednessday. So far I have received NO emails whatsoever from the FBAR office. Yes, my email on their confirmation screen is correct and yes, I have checked the spam box on my email account. Nothing.

My nagging suspicion is in their wording at the beginning: “Please confirm the following confirmation…” Is there a “confirm” button that I missed? I don’t remember there was any button on that screen, and if I clicked on the “go back to the filing page” then it did just that, sending me back to the home screen.

The browser I use is Maxthon (a close cousing of Firefox) on windows 7.

Any idea?

Thank you much in advance.

Ps – I also gave my us phone number, maybe I should have given my thai number instead?

[JimGant]

Well, from their instructions, yes, you should have received a confirmation email as well as the confirmation screen:

You should receive an immediate confirmation screen with a tracking ID similar to FF14-00000000X. You will also receive an email with your tracking information. Please retain this information for your records.

And that's what I experienced, followed by:

Within two business days, you will receive an acknowledgement email indicating your FBAR has been processed and a BSA_Identifier has been assigned for your FBAR. This 14 digit number begins with 310000 and is unique to your filing

Anyway, at least you do have a tracking number to run this down (and that means all was submitted successfully). And maybe they're now going only with a confirmation screen, not email (doubtful). But give it another day or two -- it's been a four day weekend in DC, to include President's Day and a snow day.

No joy, then enquire. Historically, FinCEN has been pretty receptive in answering queries.

Questions may be routed to the BSA E-Filing Help Desk at 866-346-9478, or [email protected].
http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/

Not to be insulting, but has your email address worked ok so far in Thailand? I ask because my verizon.net email doesn't process in Thailand -- unless I log into a Stateside VPN.

But, you've only got 4 plus months to sort this out. (Another example of doing this earlier rather than later mo' betta.)

[smo]

Oh my bad, my TOTALLY bad!

I was going to attach a screenshot of my confirmation screen to show you, but just to make sure I went back and opened my email to make absolutely sure that there was still no response from BSA. But here they were: one “FBAR submission accepted” dated the same day of filing May 12 and one “Fincen acknowledgment” with all the pertinent info dated the following day. So BSA has sent out both front and back end emails as they said they would, and it did not take them a few days, but just one, to do it!

My only explanation for this oversight on my part is simply that being overly anxious kind of made my eyes glazed over what I wanted to see (or a simpler answer would be: senility has shown its first manifestation!) Granted my account is still full of ads from the old country (Souplantation, Staples and the likes – sadly they too are going out of business) but I am usually good at combing through them. Only this time I was blinded, like some time you focus so hard you can’t see a thing.

Anyway, I’m glad my FBAR filing account is at the end a positive one.

And thanks again JimGant, for your support.

Until next year. In the meantime Happy New the year of the Goat Year!

[longball53098]

Just submitted my Fbar report successfully yesterday, second year done online. I believe online reporting is the only accepted method now.

If you don't file and your money in the local banks is over 10k USD then you may have trouble coming. Uncle S. is watching you!

[maphraw]

I have been trying to download the baseline FBAR thing and I just downloaded an Adobe reader (version 11.0.10) but when I went to download the FBAR all I get is the following;

"Please wait... If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not be able to display this type of document. You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download. For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader. Windows is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries."

This happened last year and I had to call the computer guy at work and we finally got it downloaded but it took about an hour. We now have new management and new computers.So I tried to download it on my home computer and I got the same message. I wonder what I am doing wrong. It is very frustrating.

I have no idea what a PDF viewer is and if it cannot display the FBAR document what am I supposed to do. How do I get the appropriate PDF viewer.

[JimGant]

Did you tweak your browser to default to Adobe Reader for pdf files? Guidance for this is on the site where you tried to download the FBAR.

http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html

click on: How to file the FBAR Electronically

[maphraw]

.Thanks very much for your reply. I went back http://bsaefiling.fi...gFBARFiler.html

click on: How to file the FBAR Electronically and followed their directions. The adobe version is enabled. I then tried to download the FBAR again but the same warning appeared.

Please wait... If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not be able to display this type of document. You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by visitinghttp://www.adobe.com...reader_download. For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader. Windows is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries."

I am not quite sure what you meant when you said 'tweak your browser to default to Adobe Reader for pdf files?' I just don't know how to do this despite playing around with my computer and the default options etc. I remember downloading the FBAR at work last year. It took me and the computer guy(who is very good) at work a couple of hours to download it. But we now have new management and new computers and I have to get permission to download the Adobe reader from our admin people which I am going to try and do today.

I can't understand why this is so difficult but I am clearly pretty hopeless with anything other than very basic computer skills.

Once again,thanks for your advice and your time. It's always helpful.

[Jai Dee]

Several troll posts have been removed from this thread.

[maphraw]

I got it. I went to a downloaded PDF document, right clicked and then made adobe the default pdf reader. I was then able to download the FBAR. Amazing. As usual. it was right under my nose.

I wonder what all of the troll posts were about. I must have annoyed the hell out of some of the posters with my computer ignorance.

Once again JimGant, thanks for your comments--suggestions!

[watcharacters]

Thanks for the info. Additionally, the Mac OS is not supported either. Their IT staff must be people they just pull off the street.

A couple of things (many) frustrate me about the entire system. I do use a Mac and filed last year with one. I see, however, the same information you post about the FBAR site information. Then I google the matter and it appears the treasury site is clarifying information about a BSA FBAR site as shown below.

Also I'm continually unsure about what's the most recent information. We all know the filer is totally responsible for the latest forms even though the internet often shows sites with out dates just as is the case with the IRS site. There's sometimes an update notice but not always. To support my contention, the below comes from a government site (Treasury Dept.) as a PDF but it certainly doesn't have a date attached to it.

But as I write this I'm thinking any Turbotax or TaxAct site must surely have the most recently required form. I hope so, anyway.

http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/docs/FBAR_EFILING.pdf

1

How to File the FBAR Electronically

The following steps describe the process of filing an FBAR electronically with our system.

Prerequisite

Our site requires use of the free Adobe Reader product to properly display our interactive FBAR. Please ensure you have

the Adobe Reader installed on your system and you have opened the Adobe Reader application and accepted the License

Agreement and made t

he Adobe Reader the default application for opening PDFs.



The latest version of

Adobe Reader

, available for install at:



http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Browser Configuration

Your browser settings must be

updated to open the FBAR PDF directly in the Adobe Reader

as the default PDF viewer to

properly display our interactive FBAR PDF

.

If this is not completed, you may receive either a blank screen or a prompt

of

“

Please wait, If this message is not eventually

replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not

be able to display this type of document

.

”

error message

within the browser.

Follow the instructions below for your browser. The type of browser you are using can be identified by c

licking on the Help

menu and locating the About link (About Firefox, About Internet Explorer, About Google Chrome, for example).

We have tested the following browsers with the BSA E

-

Filing System:



I

nternet Explorer 8.0 or higher



FireFox 19.0.2 or higher



Chrome 25 or higher



Safari v7.0.2 with Apple OS X Version 10.9.2

Edited February 26, 2015 by watcharacters

[JimGant]

But as I write this I'm thinking any Turbotax or TaxAct site must surely have the most recently required form. I hope so, anyway.

Tax software won't help you, now that paper FBAR filing is no longer allowed. You have to fill out the FBAR on-line. Tax software will just provide a few questions to see whether or not you need to file a FBAR. If "yes," you'll see (from HR Block, anyway):

Since you have foreign accounts worth more than $10,000, you need to complete and file FinCEN Form 114. FinCEN form 114 replaced Form TD-F90-22.1

FinCEN Form 114 isn't an IRS form and you can't file it with your return. Instead, visit FinCEN's website to complete and file the form by June 30, 2015.

In the above message, HR Block provides a link to FinCEN. But unhelpfully, it's the link that has the e-filing system log-in button that we used to have to use when registration and PINs were needed (institutions, like tax preparers, still have to register). So if somehow you end up at this site, click on the "File an individual FBAR" link in the right margin -- and you'll end up where you should be, namely at the "no registration required" link, below:

http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html

And the above link for filling-out and filing the FBAR would mostly likely not contain out-of-date information. (The "no registration FBAR" Link also easily found by googling on "FBAR").

Another helpful link is the following:

http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/FFBARHelp.html

One item is:

Technical Help

Please review the How to File the FBAR Electronically instructions to ensure your system is setup properly to file the FBAR on our system. Technical issues encountered during the FBAR Filing process may be directed via email at or [email protected] or by calling BSA E-Filing Help Desk at 1-866-346-9478. During the months of April to June, the call volumes substantially increase and we recommend an email be sent explaining your technical issue. Please provide the operating system and browser used, and any specific details and screenshots if possible when sending an email. Please do NOT attach sensitive information, such as your completed FBAR, when emailing the Help Desk. The Help Desk is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. Please note that the Help Desk is closed on Federal holidays.

We're now seeing long wait time for folks asking the IRS for help (thank you, Congress). Hopefully, this won't be the case for FBAR inquiries.....

[johnh869]

I have filing problems too! What a piece of crap website and system! I did mine last year OK. I tried to file for this year and encountered the same problems as mentioned in other posts above. I tried Firefox and Chrome browsers...SOS!! We'll try again today..sent e-mail already...no response

[johnh869]

Bingo!! I used this url https://bsaefiling1.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFilerUpload to upload my existing PDF file. It worked! Set my PDF reader as default in my Firefox applications tab as well. It appears that you have to use the above link if you have already saved the form to your computer. If you use another link in the BSA system you get the "Please Wait Message"....Hope this helps someone other fellow American.

Edited March 4, 2015 by johnh869

[johnh869]

Bingo!! I used this url https://bsaefiling1.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFilerUpload to upload my existing PDF file. It worked! Set my PDF reader as default in my Firefox applications tab as well. It appears that you have to use the above link if you have already saved the form to your computer. If you use another link in the BSA system you get the "Please Wait Message"....Hope this helps someone other fellow American.

The best place to start is at http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html....fill out the form then validate it then submit it with the filer upload...Why they have another place to do it is beyond me because that other section of their website doesn't work very well!!!

The main access link is: https://bsaefiling1.fincen.treas.gov/PublicAccess

Edited March 4, 2015 by johnh869

[VIPinthailand]

what they do with your datas?how do you know your datas are not hijacked by our enemies like ISIS ?

this is private information.