The new annual due date for filing Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) for foreign financial accounts is April 15 with a maximum extension for a six-month period ending on Oct. 15. The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (Surface Act) modified the due date of the FBAR from June 30 to April 15 to align with the federal income tax filing season. According to recently issued guidance, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will grant filers an automatic extension to the federal income tax due date of Oct. 15 each year. At this time, specific requests for extensions are not required.

Additionally, on Dec. 16, 2016, FinCEN issued a notice (Notice 2016-1) extending the deadline to April 15, 2018, for FBAR filings for certain individuals with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, certain foreign financial accounts. This is the fifth consecutive year that FinCEN has issued such an extension to similarly situated individuals. To be eligible for the reporting extension under Notice 2016-1, an individual must satisfy specific criteria with respect to certain employer-owned foreign financial accounts.    

FinCEN extended the deadline in light of a notice of proposed rulemaking that it issued on March 10, 2016.  These proposed regulations expand and clarify filing exemptions for certain U.S. persons with signature or other authority over foreign financial accounts, and have yet to be finalized. The extension applies to individuals with signature authority held during the 2016 calendar year, as well as all reporting deadlines extended by prior notices.

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