Foreign Bank Account Filing Requirements

The due date for filing Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) for accounts held during 2010 is June 30, 2011.  If a U.S. person (for example, a corporation, partnership, trust or an individual) holds a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign bank, securities, brokerage or other account(s) maintained with a financial institution where the aggregate value exceeds $10,000 during the year, then they must file this Report.

For business-related accounts, multiple U.S persons may be required to file for the same account. For example, if a corporate owned account exceeds $10,000 during the year, both the corporation and the individual(s) within the corporation with signature authority are required to file. The corporation would file with a financial interest in the account and the individual(s) would file as having signature authority.

If the individual(s) own more than 50 of the voting power or total value of shares, they would also have a financial interest in the account, not just signature authority.

Partnerships, LLC’s and trusts also look to a greater than 50% ownership or beneficial interest to determine if their owners/beneficiaries have a beneficial interest in the accounts and therefore a requirement to file separately.

This filing requirement is without regard to the signature authority, i.e., even an owner without signature authority has a beneficial interest.

More information is found on the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=148849,00.html