# amend FBAR to include pension fund account



## txiriondo (Mar 29, 2018)

Hi, I am a dual Spanish and US citizen. My wife is a US citizen. I have lived as Spaniard in Spain all my life and my wife since 1985. In 2014 we realized that we had to file for US taxes and we used the streamline procedure. Since then we have filed the 1040 income tax return and the FBAR. In the FBAR reports we did not include our "pension funds" (accounts where you save for your retirement and you can only retrieve the savings at 65 or later), because we thought they were considered to be IRAs and that we did not have to report them. With the current preparation of the 2017 reports we have realized we should have included this information.

1. In addition to including these accounts for this year's FBAR we think we should amend the FBARs of the previous six years, is that right?

2. However, the information on how to amend FBAR found in webpages of tax firms is full of threatening sentences on how you should be careful about FBAR amendments (because you may be exposed to serious penalties) and that it is risky to proceed without professional legal advice. Is this just marketing strategy to obtain clients or sound advice?

Thanks.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

> Is this just marketing strategy to obtain clients or sound advice?


Probably a little of both. Assuming your retirement funds aren't in the astronomic range (i.e. worth millions of dollars), it's unlikely they'll pursue an honest "oversight" on your part regarding reporting. One other thing to consider is that to amend prior FBARs, you are supposed to have the BSA identifier number they sent you when they acknowledged receipt of your FBAR (and it changes each year).
Cheers,
Bev


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## txiriondo (Mar 29, 2018)

Thanks for your reply.


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