Plans May Be Required to Make FBAR Filing for Offshore Investments by September 23, 2009

Under current rules, U.S. persons (including employee benefit trusts) with a "financial interest in or signature or other authority over" certain "foreign financial accounts" must file a "Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts" (Form TD F 90-22.1, or "FBAR") with the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). While the deadline for the annual filing is June 30, the IRS announced that filers have until September 23, 2009, to file FBAR for the 2008 calendar year if they have (i) only recently learned of their obligation to file FBAR, (ii) insufficient time to gather the necessary information, and (iii) reported and paid all 2008 taxable income, if any. FBAR filings made after June 30 will still be considered delinquent and should be filed with a statement explaining the delinquency, but the IRS will not impose penalties for a failure to file.

A more complete discussion of the FBAR filing requirements is in the memorandum below. If you would like to discuss the FBAR filing requirements or are interested in submitting comments, please contact Jennifer Eller, Michael Kreps, or your regular Groom attorney.

The IRS Voluntary Disclosure Q&As are available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/faqs-revised_6_24_checked_v2.pdf.