OK, it is tax time and my accountant always keeps me up to speed and compliant. He always told me, “if there is a choice, you want to knock on the door of the IRS – you do not want them knocking on your door!”. Bob Stein at PINCHASIK YELEN MUSKAT STEIN LLC is one of the partners and Certified Public Accountants and Associates at this private firm in Miami. Bob has done my taxes for over 30 years and I have never had any issues, thank you.
Here is what he sent me along with my Tax Return Organizer for this year.
I know you may need help with the Foreign Bank Account Form now named FINCEN Form 114. The US government now requires everyone to electronically file Form 114, and it is not filed with your tax return. The attached engagement letter says you need to separately engage us to prepare the Fincen form 114 because we were waiting for Treasury/IRS to approve our software for e-file the Form 114. We just got the approval so we can now prepare this Form 114 efiling for you. Just note on the last page of the engagement letter if you are authorizing us to prepare the form for you. We will give you a link so you can access the completed form before authorizing us to e-file it.
Here is more on the new forms and requirements.
FinCEN to Require Mandatory E-Filing of Forms, Temporarily Exempts FBARs.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced February 24, 2012, that it would begin requiring that the agency’s reports be filed electronically, although a temporary exemption would be provided for electronic filing of Form TD F 90-22.1 (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) (FBAR) until July 1, 2013. This does not relieve individuals of their FBAR filing obligations. Each U.S. person who has a financial interest in or signature or other authority over any foreign financial accounts, including bank, securities, or other types of financial accounts, in a foreign country, must report that information each calendar year by filing an FBAR with Treasury by June 30 of the succeeding year if the aggregate value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. On July 18, 2011, FinCEN announced that it was accepting electronic filings of FBARs. Beginning in August 2011, individuals worldwide were permitted to file their FBARs by accessing the BSA E-Filing System In a February 23, 2012, notice filed in the Federal Register, FinCEN said that it was adopting a requirement that all financial institutions subject to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reporting use electronic filing for certain reports[pg. 9]beginning no later than July 1, 2012. The paperless initiative affects FBARs, but the form will not be required to be filed electronically until July 1, 2013. FinCEN said that notwithstanding the temporary exemption, the agency encourages FBAR filers to voluntarily take advantage of the e-filing system. Based on the information in the notice, FBARs may be timely filed on paper forms through the 2012 tax year (i.e., for the 2012 tax year, the FBAR is due by June 30, 2013). Thereafter, the form must be filed electronically. Almost all FinCEN reports fall within the e-filing mandate. For practical reasons, however, the Currency and Monetary Instrument Report (CMIR), commonly completed by individuals on physically crossing the border into the United States, is not included in the mandate. Also, FinCEN Form 8300 (Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business) may continue to be filed on paper. FinCEN said that it would consider, based on very limited hardship exceptions, specific requests to extend the time to electronically file the most current paper forms for up to a year past the mandatory e-filing date. FinCEN Director James H. Freis, Jr., said: “As part of FinCEN’s overall modernization of its IT systems, the time has come to move our reporting framework from paper to the electronic age. We listened closely to the industry’s concerns, balanced those concerns with the needs of law enforcement, and we are allowing some prudent exemptions.”Remy Farag, J.D., LL.M., Thomson Reuters (New York)
This link give you very general and useful information http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Report-of-Foreign-Bank-and-Financial-Accounts-FBAR
This link is to the FinCEN website where people can go to efile their FBAR or read about it.
http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html
For assistance with your filing you can contact
Bob Stein, CPA, ABV
PINCHASIK YELEN MUSKAT STEIN LLC
Certified Public Accountants and Associates
3225 Aviation Avenue
Suite 500
Miami, FL 33133
Phone 305-858-5800
Fax 305-858-1636
E-mail Bstein@psms-cpa.com