When taxpayers want to come into legal compliance on their offshore bank accounts, the IRS provides several options. These options are designed to give an incentive to taxpayers by providing them with protection against criminal prosecution and other penalties. However, choosing the appropriate option for any particular taxpayer’s situation is no easy matter.

With potential tax penalties and civil or criminal prosecution for failure to report accounts at foreign financial institutions, offshore account holders must be wary. The dangers could be even worse when the offshore account is at a “bad bank” – a bank designated by the IRS as helping its account holders to evade U.S. taxes.

U.S. taxpayers with foreign bank accounts must be aware of IRS reporting requirements for these “offshore” accounts. For offshore bank accounts or other foreign financial accounts, the taxpayer will likely need to file a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR). Please note that the penalties for failing to file an accurate FBAR can be extremely steep.