Recently, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Bernard Gubser v. IRS, et al., was asked to overturn a recent U.S. District Court’s decision. The case involved the appropriate burden of proof the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must meet when the IRS asserts a willful failure to file penalty for the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). At issue is whether the IRS must meet a clear and convincing evidence standard to establish willfulness or whether the appropriate measure is the lower preponderance of the evidence level of proof.
The District Court’s dismissed the initial suit for lack of standing. A group of taxpayers filed an amici curiae brief with the Fifth Circuit urging the Court to reverse the District Court’s decision due to the perceived harm that the uncertainty of the burden of proof could cause taxpayers who made an error in failing to file the FBAR, but who believe their oversight was not willful. This comes at a time when an unprecedented number of District Court cases will be filed for FBAR violations due to the inability of many taxpayers to achieve relief through the IRS Appeals process.
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