India’s Incentive to Bring Currency Into the Country Can Create Havoc with the US IRS

India is presently encouraging its citizens abroad to open special bank accounts in India to transfer US currency into the country. In and of itself, this isn’t the challenge. It’s the resulting balance in a foreign country (India) for those who are US citizens or foreign nationals who are living and working in the US with foreign accounts. If the account(s) abroad amount to more than $10,000 at any point in time (and most do), it triggers FBAR reporting under recent FATCA regulations. The FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report) must be submitted to the IRS prior to June 30, or those with foreign bank accounts open themselves to aggressive IRS audit, tax, penalty and collection strategies. If you have bank accounts in India that have exceeded $10,000 (accumulated) in the past years it is important that you seek immediate counsel to protect your financial interests and avoid heavy IRS penalties and additional taxation.