Given the crush of those trying to meet the June 30 FBAR filing deadline, I report here some rumors about Taxpayer friendly relief or at least help, albeit rather small.
1. I have heard that the IRS issued today some new FBAR guidance addressing a number of issues, but I have not been able to get a copy or even a good summary yet. I will post it and make comments when I get it. [Note: the Guidance appeared as a revision of the May 6, 2009 FAQs and may be viewed here.]
2. I have also heard that the IRS might apply some type of timely mailing, timely filing rule. I have not been able to confirm that rumor, so it could be just wishful, hopeful thinking. Still, in the administration of these provisions, I would think prudential administration would not force a penalty for an FBAR that was timely mailed, provided it got to the Detroit Service Center (or even the IRS for that matter) some reasonable time after June 30. In other words, while the IRS may not have the ability to create administratively a timely mailing, timely filing rule, it could achieve the practical equivalent by making prudent judgment calls not to administer the penalty to FBARs that might otherwise qualify if there were such a rule.
Note: For item 2, the Internal Revenue Code section deeming timely mailing to be timely filing, does not apply because the FBAR requirement is not in the Internal Revenue Code and thus is not subject to the timely mailing, timely filing rule.
Second Note to Readers: I had to change this blog because I had a significant error about having heard that the IRS would extend the filing date from June 30, 2009 to July 2, 2009. I think I got that notion from an IRS announcement for 2007 when June 30 actually fell on a Saturday, so that moving the filing date to the following Monday was logical (see here). Projecting that to 2009 was sheer operator error. Apologies to my readers.
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