CTSW Advises Foreign and Domestic Clients on FBAR Compliance

Jo Anne Adlerstein, a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, and tax attorney Frederic Sanders have teamed up to advise foreign and domestic clients on complying with Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) laws and avoiding state and federal prosecution.

In 2009, the Internal Revenue Service received almost 15,000 reports of previously undisclosed foreign bank accounts under the fixed civil penalty voluntary disclosure program it ran that year. The first of CTSW's applications under that program was accepted in the first week of January. The client holds a numbered Swiss bank account and had not previously filed FBARs or reported account earnings. While the fixed civil penalty IRS program has ended, CTSW continues to counsel clients in becoming FBAR compliant and mitigating the risk of prosecution under existing IRS voluntary disclosure procedures.