Help wanted - FBAR

Hi, all,

I have been cornered into a dilemma, which I realised just a short time before this year's US tax return deadline.  Here is the description about my situation.
1. I moved into the USA a few years ago and my family moved into the USA last year;
2. I had my US and Canadian tax returns filed by a professional tax filler/accountant for many years. The filler filed 1040 (married filing jointly) with 8891 and schedule B for me to report the RRSP purchased and the interest earned from both side of the USA and Canada;
3. I started to file my tax returns by my self since last year and basically I did that by following my previous tax returns prepared by the filler;
4. A few weeks ago, I happened to read something regarding the form 8938 and the form TD F90-22.1 from the internet and then realized that I has not been compliant with the requirements of the Treasury (the forms TD F90-22.1 was not filed and I believe that the 8938 is required for 2011 this year), possibly since I moved into the USA;
5. After I read some IRS documents, I think, the incompliant issues may be listed as:
    a.  TD F90-22.1 was never filed in last few years;
    b. the 8891 filed missed some of my RRSP or my wife's RRSP;
I am preparing to fix whatever screwed up by the filler by doing the following few things:
a. File 8938 for 2011 with all RRSPs and foreign bank accounts. This may not be needed for the previous years;
b. File the TD F90-22.1 for the years since I moved in USA with a letter of explanations. I am not quite sure if my tax filler's mis-handling my tax returns makes a reasonable explanation.

I would appreciate very much if anyone over there could provide any advice on fixing the issues!

Hello haohaoren, and welcome to UKY.

As I understand, RRSPs can come in different flavours, from a simple cash account to more complicated investments. The following is a site where there have been many questions/comments on both the late filing of FBARS for those with Canadian ties, and the dilemma of RRSPs. Although the titles to the threads may differ, have a look at most and you'll discover that many develop into discussions of the above for those with the Canadian tie.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/expat-tax/

Another site that deals strictly with US/Canadian tax concerns is:

http://forums.serbinski.com/viewforum.php?f=2

This site is down at times during the day, so if at first you don't find it, try later. This site has many topics concerning Form 8891.

Since you now live in the US, the deadline for filing Form 8938 was April 17th, so yes, if you are required to file it, you are late.

The following IRS chart may be of assistance in determining filing thresholds, assets to be declared, etc.:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/article/0,,id=255986,00.html

I take it your main concern is the oversight of your previous preparer to file FBARS. From your comments, it appears you had a US tie prior to moving to the States recently. As to the issue of 'reasonable cause' due to the oversights by the preparer, I'm afraid acceptance of that will be up to the IRS, but you need to prepare the letter of explanation carefully. You might want to seek professional advice from a qualified US/Canadian preparer.

 

See also

http://isaacbrocksociety.com/

which has a lot of information about dealing with delinquent FBARs especially from a Canadian perspective.

Hi,  theOAP,

Thank you so much for providing the valuable info and info links!

I have read some of the info and felt much better now than before. I hesitate to acquire, again, a professional filler, as I really do not know how qualified s/he is. I am going to fix the problems in a few weekends (I have already filed an extension so that I have enough time to fix the problems). As I do not own any tax to the IRS, I hope that I will not be fined.

Huge thanks!

Hi, Weller,

Many thanks for your info link, which is also very informative and useful!

All the best!