If you are a U.S. person and had the equivalent of $10,000 in foreign financial assets on any day during 2024, you are required to file an FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Account Report - FinCEN Form 114 ). The term U.S. person includes U.S. citizens, Permanent Residents (Green Card holders), Resident Aliens and Nonresident Aliens who file joint U.S. tax returns with their U.S. person spouse. Foreign financial assets are assets located outside of the U.S. and include all financial accounts such as bank accounts, stocks and bonds of companies incorporated outside the U.S., mutual fund accounts, insurance policies having a "cash surrender value" that can be withdrawn, and managed Fund accounts (including Pension, Manager's Insurance, Kupat Gemel, Hishtalmut, etc.).

Failure to file an FBAR can carry a penalty of $10,000 for each non-willful violation. If your violation is found to be willful, the penalty is the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the amount in the account for each violation. Each year you do not file is considered to be a separate violation. The statute of limitations for assessing civil FBAR penalties for FBAR violations is six years. It begins to run on the date that the FBAR is due.

The 2024 Treasury Reporting Rate for Israeli Shekels is 3.647 For 2023: 3.619 For 2022: 3.518 For 2021: 3.099 For 2020: 3.213 For 2019: 3.454 For 2018: 3.749

Your FBAR is due April 15th 2025 but has an automatic extension to October 15th.

Save time and energy by using your prior year’s FBAR as the basis for the current year. If the version date does not appear immediately above the Notice in the box about the Privacy Act (either April 2019 or 4/29/20), you may be using an old version of the form and should use the current one which is attached (see above) and can be saved to your computer. Follow these steps: 1. Locate your prior year FBAR Draft, open it, select FILE at the top of the screen, click ‘Save as’ and then save the file in your computer as ‘2024 FBAR Draft’. 2. If you only find your 2023 SIGNED FBAR , you can use it but must unlock it in order that it accept your entries. Follow step 1 above and after saving the file as 2024 FBAR Draft, open to page 1 and click the box "Remove Signature". The name of the box will change to ‘Sign the Form’, the form will be unlocked and you can now enter information. ​ 3. If the year is included in the File Name on page 1, update the name to show the current year. 4. Change the year in the box at the top of page 2 to ‘2024’. 5. Review the details on page 2 and update those fields requiring change. (such as your address). If you need the replace your version of the FBAR with the most recent version, you can download the form which is located in the top right of this page. Save it to a directory in your computer. Close the form and then open the saved file located in your PC’s directory. If there is a problem opening the file, right click the file and select "Open with Adobe Acrobat". ​

Page one: Enter Filing Name, such as ‘John Doe 2024 FBAR’. If you are filing a delinquent FBAR, select the applicable reason you are filing late or else use the blank area to write-in your explanation. Page two: Make sure the year 2024 appears in the box on line 1 at the top of the page. Do not enter anything on line 11 (State) and avoid entering that box.

In Part II, only include accounts where you are the sole owner and/or have sole signatory right. Report the largest balance in each account during the year. Convert Shekels to Dollars using the Treasury Reporting Rate of 3.647 Shekels to the Dollar for 2024. Your "Bank Balance" can include your combined Shekel checking and deposit accounts. Monies held in foreign currencies should be reported separately. Contact us if you need a Dollar conversion rate for any foreign currencies. If your bank account includes securities, report that balance separately and identify it on line 16 as ‘Securities’ and not as a "Bank" balance. FUND accounts are reported as ‘Other’. A box opens on the right where you describe them according to the following: Pension Fund accounts should be classified as: "Pension". Kupat Gemel /ביטוח מנהלים should be classified as: "Provident Fund" Hishtalmut accounts should be classified as: "Deferred Compensation". The savings portion of a life insurance policy should be classified as: "Life insurance". If an account was closed out in the prior year (balance withdrawn or transferred to a different account), delete the account by clicking the blue circle with the minus sign. When an account was closed during 2024 (the balance withdrawn or transferred to a new account), you are still required to include the largest balance in that account during the year. On line 17 of the account that was closed / moved, write an explanation in brackets, such as (Closed and Withdrawn in 2024 / or closed and moved in 2024 to Harel account No 1234). In line 17 of the new account write an explanation in brackets as well, such as (Opened in 2024 or Opened and moved from Clal account No 1234) .

In Part III, include accounts with joint owners. On line 24 enter the number of other joint owners. Do not count yourself. If your spouse is the only additional joint owner, enter "1" and then report your spouse's details in the section below. If you and your spouse have a joint account, only one of you is required to include that account in his/hers FBAR.

In Part IV, include accounts where you have signatory rights but no financial interest (such as bank accounts at the company where you work, or a relative that wants a second signature on their account for emergency sake).

FUND accounts are reported as ‘Other’. A box opens on the right where you describe them according to the following: Pension Fund accounts should be classified as: "Pension". Kupat Gemel /ביטוח מנהלים should be classified as: "Provident Fund" Hishtalmut accounts should be classified as: "Deferred Compensation". The savings portion of a life insurance policy should be classified as: "Life insurance". Your "Bank Balance" should include your combined Shekel checking and deposit accounts. (עו"ש & חסכונות / פקדונות) Monies held in foreign currencies should be reported separately. If your bank account includes securities (ניירות ערך), report that balance separately and identify it on line 16 as ‘Securities’ and not as a "Bank" balance.

To add new accounts opened in the current year, click the “+” button in the blue circle. Make sure you open the account in the proper Section (Part II, III or IV).

When an account was closed during 2023 (the balance withdrawn or transferred to a new account), you are still required to include the largest balance in that account during the year. On line 17 of the account that was closed / moved, write an explanation in brackets, such as (Closed and Withdrawn in 2023 / or closed and moved in 2023 to Harel account No 1234). In line 17 of the new account write an explanation in brackets as well, such as (Opened in 2023 or Opened and moved from Clal account No 1234) .

Open a new account by pressing the plus sign in the blue circle. 2. Return to the account you want to delete and press the minus sign in the blue circle.

You need to report the largest cumulative balance on a particular day during the year but may not have all of the records to determine it. Obtain your last four quarter-end reports (31.3.24, 30.6.24, 30.9.2024 and 31.12.24) and then select the quarter-end with the larges cumulative balance and enter those amounts in your FBAR.

Go to page 1 and click the ‘VALIDATE’ box. If there are any errors (in addition to the reminder that the your FBAR has to be signed), they will be listed. You can locate them easily because the applicable lines/boxes will be shaded in bright yellow. After your FBAR Draft has been validated and there are no errors, send us the draft to review. We will let you know if any balances do not appear to be reasonable and/or if any entries appear questionable. In general, it takes between 2-3 days for us to review your FBAR Draft before letting you know that we recommend it be transmitted to FinCEN.

After our review and approval of your FBAR, transmit your FBAR to FinCEN by following these steps: 1. Open the FBAR Draft file saved on your pc. On page 1 click the box “VALIDATE”. Your FBAR cannot be signed electronically until all validation errors are cleared. 2. Sign electronically by clicking the box “SIGN THE FORM” on page 1. Clicking “AGREE” completes the signing process and the form is now locked and no changes to the data are allowed. If you need to correct something, you must return to page 1, click “REMOVE SIGNATURE” and only then can you make the change. After that, click “Sign the Form” and complete the signing anew. 3. Save the file of the signed version under a new file name (such as ‘2024 FBAR SIGNED’). Do that by clicking the box “SAVE” on page 1 and enter the name of the new file. You will now have 2 FBAR files – the 2024 Signed version and the 2024 Draft version. When you submit electronically, you need to send the ‘2024 FBAR SIGNED’ version. 4. Print the FBAR and keep the copy with the other supporting FBAR documents. 5. When you saved the signed file, the box on the right side of page 1, "READY TO FILE", will change color from dark grey to light grey and now it will be possible to proceed and transmit the form electronically. 6. Go to this link - https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html Click on the "Submit" option, and enter your personal information: email address, name and telephone number 972********* (no hyphens). 7. Click “Choose File”, locate the 2024 FBAR SIGNED file (step 3 above) and select it (not the 2024 Draft file). 8. Click "SUBMIT". A temporary submission confirmation will appear on the screen. Print it and keep it together with your 2024 FBAR documents. Shortly after submitting the file you will receive an email from FinCEN confirming that it received your FBAR transmission. Print a copy and save it with your other FBAR documents. Do not send us a copy of any of the confirmations. Within several days you will receive a 2nd email confirmation which includes an important code which is required if you want to amend your FBAR. Print that email and save it with your other FBAR documents.

We cannot finalize your tax return until after we have determined the total value of your Foreign Financial Assets. If the value is above a certain amount, you are required to include a Form 8938 Report of Specified Foreign Financial Assets with your Income Tax Return. Failure to file that report when required subjects you to a $10,000 penalty.

You have to save the document to your computer, and only then open the file from the folder you saved it in. If you try to download the FBAR form from the website or from an email, and open it directly from there, you will get a white page with some kind of an error message. So always save the file to a directory and then go to that directory and open the file from there.