Late yesterday, in an apparent response to growing pressure from advisors and investors, the IRS, in effect, extended the filing deadline for 2008 Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report (FBAR) forms from June 30, 2009 to September 23, 2009 for
“taxpayers who reported and paid tax on all their 2008 taxable income but only recently learned of their FBAR filing obligation and have insufficient time to gather the necessary information to complete the FBAR.” (FAQ 43).
Note that the relief is targeted to taxpayers having reported and paid their tax in full, and that the extended filing deadline leaves unanswered all the questions relating to FBARs and offshore funds detailed in yesterday’s Fund Update. We hope the additional time will not only allow affected taxpayers to timely file, but also will allow the IRS to provide further guidance in this area.
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