FBAR / FATCA &
Offshore Compliance
Leaving the United States does not end your reporting obligations. They follow you, and they are more technical than almost anyone expects.
Request a consultationPaying tax abroad does not settle the account.
U.S. citizens and green card holders abroad often assume paying tax locally is the end of it.
It is not. The obligations continue, even in years when no U.S. tax is owed.
You may have to file one, both, or neither.
They are different rules, filed in different places, on different thresholds.
Filed with FinCEN.
Triggered when foreign accounts together pass $10,000 at any point in the year. Not the year-end balance. The highest one. Filing a tax return does not satisfy it.
Filed with the IRS.
Thresholds are far higher and depend on where you live and how you file. It also reaches assets that no bank account holds, such as foreign stock.
Does any of this describe you?
Any one of these can trigger a filing.
You can move money in an account, but none of it belongs to you.
You own most of a foreign company, and the company has a bank account.
You were added to a parent’s account overseas to help them manage it.
You hold a foreign pension, foreign stock, or an insurance policy with a cash value.
Work out where you actually stand.
Establish what is reportable
Which accounts, which assets, which years, and which rules reach them.
Assess the position candidly
What the realistic range of outcomes looks like, before any decision is made.
Bring past years into order
The right route, filed correctly, with the record built to support it.
Make it routine from here
Annual obligations set up so this stops being something you think about.
Frequently asked.
Because these are reporting rules, not tax rules. They exist to tell the U.S. government what you hold, not to collect on it.
That is why an obligation can arise in a year when you owe nothing at all.
Yes, and this is the part that surprises people most.
The penalty attaches to the failure to report, whether or not a dollar of tax was ever due.
Not necessarily. They are separate obligations with separate thresholds, and one does not satisfy the other.
Some people file both. Some file only one. Working out which you are is the first useful step.
Speak with counsel first. Late filings made without a considered approach can create problems rather than resolve them.
Coming forward is treated differently from being found, and there is more than one way to do it. The route matters.
Usually not. Long-running non-compliance is ordinary, and it is not by itself what determines the outcome.
What matters more is how it is handled now, and whether it is handled before someone else raises it.
Find out what applies to you.
A confidential consultation on what you hold, what is reportable, and what to do about it.
Request a consultation