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.

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.