Filing of Treasury Form TDF90-22.1 - Value of bank accounts over $10,000 outside USA

r2ichennai2007 · Post by **r2ichennai2007** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 3:18 am

Do we need to file this stuff If I have more than $10,000 in bank accounts outside USA?
http://daggle.com/060629-033547.html

nand · Post by **nand** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:49 am

yes you do, absolutely. The penalties for non-filing are severe.

I had asked the same question a while ago. Now what if you had more than 10k in years past and did not file due to ignorance or mis-understanding. Do you own up and file for past years or do you just file for this year onwards and keep quiet? The answer? I dont know. Tons of people I know are in the boat of having to file and do not file or do not know about it.

r2ichennai2007 · Post by **r2ichennai2007** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:37 am

thanks nand for the update.
One quick question. When one spouse is in India and other is in US, how does this rule work?
Is it applicable only to when both are expats?

nand · Post by **nand** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:11 am

regardless you file if at any time total exceeded 10K. even if both move to India and are USC you have to file. Once you become NRA you need not anymore.

Jaggudada · Post by **Jaggudada** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:05 am

After R2I one may transfer 401K, IRA accounts to India bank and for a period of time after R2I as a GC or USC, one would have to continue to file this form as the aggregate balance in your accounts will be easily over $10K, this could be painful and may attract audit etc. How are the recent R2Iers dealing with this? I don't know how people feel about putting their account value on the form. Obviously, if it's law then one has to do it.

r2ichennai2007 · Post by **r2ichennai2007** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:13 pm

Hello RRK and gurus,
Can you throw in ur ideas. U guys have already moved to India last year. Did you guys filed this form with IRS.

Desi · Post by **Desi** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:42 am

What ideas?? It is straightforward requirement. If you have financial / bank accounts outside USA and are a USC / GC, you are required to file - period.

If your spouse has such financial interests also and is USC / GC, then spouse is required to file also.

nand · Post by **nand** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:56 am

Here is my understanding.

If you have 5 accounts, one of which is joint and total adds to more than 10K, then you have to file this form. But spouse has just one account, then she does not have to file.

If you did not file in past years, I am unsure what the consequences are. If it is construed as negligence or carelessness, then you may be fined upto 10K. I think in general this should not be an issue.

Regarding the fear that it may trigger an audit. One attorney has the opinion that if you are transfering more than 10K and you did not file, hence not in the database, then you will attract attention as they can cross check the transfer with the database to see if it is legal. His opinion is that filing will actually protect you from an audit.

Finally, if you forgot to file in previous years, what is the best option - file this year onwards or also file the previous years too (there is no way to do that though). If you dont file they may never find out, ifyou do that may open a can of worms (if there is one)

Jaggudada · Post by **Jaggudada** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:52 pm

Form TD F 90-22.1 must be filed if you had any financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, a bank, securities, or other financial account in a foreign country.

Does this mean that it is not only bank accounts( as it is most commonly understood) that comes under the purview of this tax code but pretty much all accounts like securities (Share certificates), brokerage accounts, PPF, Government bonds, mutual funds etc.

It says, signature or other authority or other financial accounts. That means everything is included. Could someone confirm this?

Also how does one accurately report the interest income if you had a FD for a 3 yr term and interest is deposited at the end of maturity. The exchange rate also does fluctuate.

cs5211 · Post by **cs5211** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:16 am

Does this cover NRE accounts? What if I transferred $20K to an NRE account and filed this form. Then I use that money for buying an apartment and so the balance drops below $10k. So now I will stop filing the form for subsequent years?

- cs