Taxpayers cannot file a foreign bank account report electronically if they
have a copy of popular software programs such as Adobe Acrobat installed on
their computers because the programs conflict with the FBAR electronic filing
portal, Tax Analysts has learned.
The only way to resolve the problem is to uninstall
the conflicting programs and install a copy of Adobe Reader, according to
instructions from the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network's Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) e-filing help desk. The
conflict was confirmed by a help desk employee.
FinCEN mandated e-filing of FBARs as of July 1, 2013. According to a FinCEN
FAQ, failure to comply with the electronic filing mandate could result in civil
penalties, including a $500 fine for each negligent currency transaction.
Exceptions to the mandate are allowed only in some limited circumstances,
according to the agency.
Adobe Reader is a less functional version of Adobe Acrobat. Reader allows
users only to view and fill out PDFs and does not allow for the creation or
editing of PDFs. Those who want to continue to use Acrobat after filing an FBAR
must reinstall the program. The FBAR e-filing portal also conflicts with Adobe
Pro, Adobe Standard, and Adobe Air.
Burgess J.W. Raby of Raby Law Office told Tax Analysts in an e-mail that
Adobe Acrobat is "one of the, if not the, most ubiquitous computer programs for
all users, and especially attorneys and accountants." He said he was surprised
that the conflict exists and that it is not reported in FAQs posted on the BSA
electronic filing website.
A FAQ on the BSA e-filing website specifies that Adobe Reader is required to
submit forms, but not that users cannot have Adobe Acrobat or other conflicting
software programs installed on their computers. The help desk employee said that
if a user who has Acrobat installed on her computer tries to file an FBAR
electronically, the form will not work correctly and the user will not be able
to submit it.
FinCEN did not respond to a request for comment.
FinCEN did not respond to a request for comment.
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