# Good News about FBARs(?)



## Guest (Nov 25, 2011)

Hello,

Thought I would share some good news as there has been much doom and gloom. 

As I am in the process of figuring out the steps for renunciation, this has led me to converse with many Lawyers and Accountants here in Canada yesterday and mostly today.

I invariably have been asking them about the chances of being hit by penalties under the FBAR.

The response has been a positive NO as we are not the ones they are after and no one who has quietly filed should loose any sleep over this.

To date over 5,000 (five thousand) quiet disclosures in Canada have been completed and filed. ...not one has come back with a penalty.

There have also been meetings these past couple of months across the country (Canada) between Accountants and Lawyers on the present situation and how to determine if one is 'compliant'.

As you know you have to be 'compliant' in order to renounce...if you sign the documentation that you are compliant and are not...you have just put yourself in a bad situation as this would be purgery. (spelling sorry).

In other words...filing your back taxes and FBARs does not technically mean you are compliant until an Accountant firm confirms this for you. (Also must get a signed document from the aformentioned firm and bring this to your Lawyer for confirmation).

In conversations with the IRS (not me, but them) they are confident that you will not hear anything back...even those who opted out of the OVDI. However...due to the large backlog in paperwork, it will be sometime before you are cleared as being 'compliant'.

So if you are planning to renounce the day after filing...its just not going to happen, and any professional Law firm worth there weight should not take you on as a client if they don't have that confirmation paper.

I asked again about OVDI and they told me that this program is for people who have not paid taxes on investment income (which is basically impossible to do in Canada...if you have then you are on the radar with Revenue Canada as well).

The OVDI program also goes through differrent channels and fines and penalties HAVE to be attached.

NO ONE WHO HAS PAID TAX IN CANADA....IS LAW -ABIDING...AND IS NOT HIDING MONEY IN OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS SHOULD GO THROUGH THE OVDI PROGRAM...PERIOD!


----------



## 416 (Sep 20, 2011)

Mach7 said:


> To date over 5,000 (five thousand) quiet disclosures in Canada have been completed and filed. ...not one has come back with a penalty.


That's interesting. Where does that figure come from?


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2011)

That figure was the tabulation of all Accountant firms that disclosed there total filing numbers. This does not include those who have filed by themselves


----------



## Vangrrl (Aug 23, 2011)

Mach7 said:


> That figure was the tabulation of all Accountant firms that disclosed there total filing numbers. This does not include those who have filed by themselves


Many of us also used US-based expat accountants, who also presumably weren't counted in these numbers.


----------

