Who files
A US person — citizen, resident, green-card holder, or any US entity (including a US LLC) — with signature authority or financial interest in foreign accounts. For a non-US owner of a US LLC with only US accounts, FBAR is irrelevant on the owner’s side.
Where it bites our customers:
- The US LLC itself holds a foreign bank account — e.g. a UK or Indian account tied to the US entity. If the aggregate of that LLC’s foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year, the LLC files FBAR.
- A US-person co-founder who has signature authority on your foreign accounts has their own FBAR obligation.
Filing
Filed electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing portal, not through the IRS. Due 15 April, with an automatic extension to 15 October. [VERIFY — current FinCEN schedule]
Penalty
Non-wilful: up to $10,000 per violation per year. Wilful: much higher — the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the account balance per year.
Not the same as 5472
FBAR tracks a US person’s foreign accounts. Form 5472 tracks a foreign-owned US entity’s related-party transactions. Opposite directions, different filers, different agencies.