The reporting of foreign bank and financial accounts (FBAR) has changed for 2014.. and not for the better.
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, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly to the Internal Revenue Service by filing electronically a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). On September 30, 2013, FinCEN posted, on their internet site, a notice announcing FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (the current FBAR form). FinCEN Form 114 supersedes TD F 90-22.1 (the FBAR form that was used in prior years) and is only available online through the BSA E-Filing System website. The system allows the filer to enter the calendar year reported, including past years, on the online FinCEN Form 114. It also offers an option to “explain a late filing,” or to select “Other” to enter up to 750-characters within a text box where the filer can provide a further explanation of the late filing or indicate whether the filing is made in conjunction with an IRS compliance program.
What this means for the most of us, is a new time consuming way to make the nonsense reporting harder for the average person. The accounts will no longer carryforward on software and need to be individually entered for each account. There will be no easy out for this madness as fees will have to be adjusted for the time needed to prepare the required forms.
CEN-TA Cross Border Services - Tax, Visas, Immigration
http://www.centa.com/staticpages/index.php/treasuryfbarnewfincen114