TAX1902 - FBAR & FACTA: The Crackdown on Unreported Foreign Assets Continues

U.S. taxpayers and residents are required under the Internal Revenue Code and the Bank Secrecy Act to report their relationship to foreign accounts and assets on an annual basis. The IRS and the Department of Justice have significantly increased enforcement of these reporting requirements through criminal prosecutions and the imposition of crushing civil penalties that can come when taxpayers are not compliant. This panel will explore the current state of IRS and DOJ civil and criminal enforcement with respect to taxpayers who have not complied with FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) and FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) reporting requirements. The panel will also cover pathways to compliance for the non-compliant taxpayer, including the IRS’s Voluntary Disclosure Practice.

Learning Objectives:

1. Distinctions between FBAR and FATCA reporting requirements. 
   
2. Criminal versus civil consequences to noncompliance. 
   
3. Options for coming into compliance with unreported foreign accounts. 
   
4. Best practices for representing a noncompliant taxpayer in an audit.
5. Strategies for defending FBAR and FATCA related penalties. 
   
6. The current landscape of FBAR litigation.