ephemerald
Jul 5, 2012, 06:19 AM
Hello everyone. This is my first post.
I'm American, living in Asia. In June, when cleaning out a drawer, I found two old foreign bank account passbooks that I'd misplaced and then totally forgotten about 18 years ago. I went to the banks and learned that the accounts still exist with tiny balances (about $4 and $20) and have been dormant and receiving no interest since 1995.
I'd already filed a 2011 FBAR at that point, so I amended it (should have waited 120 days, but didn't know that).
I suppose I should now also amend fbars for 2006-10. I thought I'd explain in a cover letter that I misplaced the passbooks and then forgot about them because they had such insignificant balances; that they have received no interest since going dormant in '95; and that I think my reason for not reporting the accounts constitutes reasonable cause and want to request that penalties be waivered.
1. Does this seem a reasonable approach? Any pitfalls I'm missing?
2. Is it best to attach a cover letter to each amended fbar, or bundle the five together and attach one explanation?
3. Since there's been no income on the accounts since 1995 (thus no tax relevance in recent times), am I likely to face penalties?
I'm feeling very insecure about how to approach this. FBARs spook me.
Thanks for listening!
ephemerald
I'm American, living in Asia. In June, when cleaning out a drawer, I found two old foreign bank account passbooks that I'd misplaced and then totally forgotten about 18 years ago. I went to the banks and learned that the accounts still exist with tiny balances (about $4 and $20) and have been dormant and receiving no interest since 1995.
I'd already filed a 2011 FBAR at that point, so I amended it (should have waited 120 days, but didn't know that).
I suppose I should now also amend fbars for 2006-10. I thought I'd explain in a cover letter that I misplaced the passbooks and then forgot about them because they had such insignificant balances; that they have received no interest since going dormant in '95; and that I think my reason for not reporting the accounts constitutes reasonable cause and want to request that penalties be waivered.
1. Does this seem a reasonable approach? Any pitfalls I'm missing?
2. Is it best to attach a cover letter to each amended fbar, or bundle the five together and attach one explanation?
3. Since there's been no income on the accounts since 1995 (thus no tax relevance in recent times), am I likely to face penalties?
I'm feeling very insecure about how to approach this. FBARs spook me.
Thanks for listening!
ephemerald