Section 5321 FBAR Penalty Assessed On Annual Per-Form Basis

In United States v. Kaufman, the District Court for the District of Connecticut held that civil monetary penalties for failing to file an FBAR under 31 U.S.C. § 5321 must be assessed on a per-form basis.¹ The district court rejected the Government's claim that the statutory penalty cap of $10,000 applies to each account untimely or inaccurately reported. In ruling for the taxpayer, the district court rejected the analysis in United States v. Boyd,² which had adopted the Government's position that the $10,000 annual FBAR penalty applies to each foreign account untimely or inaccurately reported.

Background Facts

The taxpayer, Kaufman, had a financial interest in or signatory authority over several financial accounts in Israel in 2008, 2009, and 2010, which required him to file a Form TD F 90-22.1 ("FBAR") for each of those years. Kaufman did not file a timely FBAR for 2008–10; instead, he filed his FBARs for the three years at issue on May 15, 2012.