Foreign Bank Account Reporting Form Due 6/30/06

Form TDF 90-22.1 is due on June 30th of each year and cannot be extended. It must be filed in you had $10,000 or more in total in one or more foreign financial account, bank account or other monetary account (this includes credit balances in credit cards). It is filed separately from your tax return. On that form you report the bank name, country of location, account number, and range of highest balances during the past tax year (2005).

You must also report the name, address and tax ID numbers of joint owners and the name and address of the actually owner of an account you sign on, but do not claim any personal interest in.

In 2004 Congress enacted severe penalties for filing this form late or not filing it at all ($10,000). Though there are provisions to waive the penalty for reasonable cause, that part of the law is less than clear and the IRS has not indicated how they plan to enforce that penalty. Failure to file also includes criminal penalties. At this time it is not known if the penalty will be imposed for late filed TDF 90-22.1 forms for 2005. In the event they decide to try collect these penalties, it is wise to file the form on time on or before 6/30/06. The form can be downloaded at www.irs.gov