# Late filling 1040 / fbar



## fsb025 (Apr 7, 2015)

i have a question about an american adult living in france since the age of 5.
They have not yet fill their 1040 nor fbar.
I was told that the grace period for fbar disclamer was until last month, is that the case? 
Since the deadlines have expired june 30 etc and their bank account is below 10k in a livret A (ie not reportable) and an income around 20k /year , they were thinking of waiting and filling next year. The bank did not yet request a w9.

benefits vs complications ? -> procedures
thanks


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

If their own foreign bank account holds less than $10,000, then they have no FBAR requirement. (FBARs are due June 30th, so the deadline is just recently past.) Livret A's aren't reportable by the banks, but the interest from the account is supposed to be included on the 1040 filing as the US doesn't recognize the "tax free" nature of the account.

Income taxes are due from someone resident abroad by June 15th, but whether or not they have to file depends on their filing status (i.e. marital status and age). 

If said person has not been filing US returns I'd hesitate to bother at this point. However, it is really unlikely that they actually owe any US tax anyhow. And if you file late, any late filing penalty is assessed as a percentage of the tax due. So, since anything times 0 is 0, up to you if you want to file or not.
Cheers,
Bev


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## fsb025 (Apr 7, 2015)

Thanks BEV for all your feedback as well as previous ones.
PS : is the percentage penalty for late filing for the fbar or the 1040 ? i guess for the 1040.
In general is there still a 10k penalty for fbar if one file now before being requested by the IRS / is grace period expired?


thanks again


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The percentage based penalty is for the 1040 only. The FBAR is a completely separate filing (actually with a different department within the Treasury Dept.). While the deadline was June 30th, there have been no reports I'm aware of of anyone being fined or punished for the late filing of an FBAR (or a series of FBARs). The key thing is to show that the late filing was not a wilful attempt to evade the requirement. (Hence the popularity of checking the "I didn't know" box on the form.)
Cheers,
Bev


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