What This Letter Means
Letter 3800, Warning for Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Apparent Violations, comes at the end of an IRS FBAR examination. The examiner found that you apparently violated the FBAR reporting rules for foreign bank or financial accounts, such as not filing an FBAR or filing one that was wrong. After looking at the facts, the IRS decided not to assess an FBAR penalty.
That is a good result. But the letter is not the end of the case by itself. It lists the violations, includes a written summary, and tells you what the IRS expects going forward, such as filing accurate FBARs on time and keeping the required records.
What to Do
- Read the violations and the summary carefully.
- If the letter tells you to file delinquent or corrected FBARs, file them electronically through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System. Do not mail paper FBARs to the examiner.
- Give the examiner a copy or confirmation of each filing.
- Tell the examiner whether you agree. Agreement can be verbal or in writing. If you disagree, put it in writing before the deadline.
- File accurate FBARs on time every year from now on.
If You Don't Follow Through
If the delinquent or corrected FBARs are not filed, or are inaccurate, the IRS can consider penalties for the continued failure to file accurate FBARs. Don't treat a warning as a free pass.
Deadlines
You have 30 days to respond. If you need more time to gather account records, contact the examiner named on the letter before the 30 days run out.
If you have foreign accounts and the IRS is asking about your FBARs, call us at (813) 229-7100.