Reporting Foreign Accounts to IRS: Extent of Duplication Not Currently Known, but Requirements Can Be Clarified

摘要

We assessed potential duplicative foreign-account reporting requirements under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8938 and under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for the Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR). The objectives of the briefing were to (1) determine to what extent, if any, the reporting requirements on the FATCA Form 8938 and FBAR are duplicative; (2) assess the potential effects that any duplicative reporting requirements have on filers; and (3) identify and assess opportunities, if any, to cost-effectively reduce or eliminate the burden that any duplicative reporting creates while maintaining the usefulness of the information for tax-administration and law-enforcement purposes. To address objective 1, we analyzed and compared the statutes, regulations, forms, and guidance governing FATCA and FBAR reporting requirements. We identified areas in which filers are required to report the same or similar information. For objective 2, we spoke with and examined documentation from Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, IRS, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and taxpayers and their representatives to identify the amount of duplicative reporting they expect will result from the two reporting requirements. This included the perspectives of a range of taxpayers, tax practitioners with experience in reporting on the foreign financial activities of their clients, and organizations representing the interests of U.S. taxpayers that live in foreign countries.