SCOTUS Ruled That Non-willful Failure To File A FBAR Report Warrants a $10, 000 Penalty Per Form Not Per Account! USA

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on February 28, 2023, in Alexandru Bittner v. U.S., case number 21-1195, that the Bank Secrecy Act's $10, 000 maximum penalty for the nonwillful failure to report foreign bank accounts applies on a per-form basis and not per account.

The justices ruled 5-4 in determining the nonwillful failure to file a report of foreign bank and financial accounts, or FBAR, warrants a penalty of $10, 000 per form rather than $10, 000 for each account undisclosed. In the case, Alexandru Bittner, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Romania, filed federal tax returns but not the FBAR for several years. The IRS then imposed a total penalty of $2.72 million on 272 accounts for 2007 through 2011.

"Best Read, The BSA Treats The Failure To File A Legally Compliant Report As One Violation Carrying A Maximum Penalty Of $10, 000,

not a cascade of such penalties calculated on a per-account basis, " Justice Neil Gorsuch said in the majority opinion.

Corporate Tax