Royal Flush! FBARs Due June 30th

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June 18, 2014

This is your reminder that your Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Reports (FBARs) are due on June 30th. If you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account exceeding certain thresholds, you must report such accounts annually to the IRS by electronically filing a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

When you file your FBAR, do not forget to include your online poker accounts and maybe your Bitcoin exchange account. In a recent court decision, a judge held that online poker accounts need to be reported on FBARs if poker sites are owned by foreign entities and function as banks (meaning, one may deposit, withdraw, or transfer money). Also, although we do not have a court decision, commentators are recommending that taxpayers report their Bitcoin exchange accounts on FBARs. (Please do not ask me how Bitcoins work because like the rest of the world, I still haven’t quite figured them out.)

Follow Amy on Twitter @AmyTaxEsq

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