The IRS is reminding taxpayers and tax professionals that anyone with a foreign bank or financial account has a new deadline for reports for these accounts – and it’s the same as the general individual income tax due date.

Starting this year, the annual report on Form 114, often referred to as an FBAR, must be e-filed with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, by April 18.

However, if filers miss the April 18 deadline, FinCEN will now grant them an automatic extension until Oct. 16 to file the FBAR. Specific extension requests are not required. In the past, the FBAR deadline was June 30 with no extensions available.

The filing requirement generally applies to anyone who had an interest in, or signature or other authority, over foreign financial accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time during 2016.

The form is only available through the BSA E-Filing System Web site.

Other deadlines and filing requirements that the IRS highlighted include:

• For U.S. citizens and resident aliens whose tax home and abode are outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the income tax filing deadline is June 15. The same applies for those serving in the military outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Note, however, that tax payments are still due on April 18, and interest will apply to any payment received after that date.
• Nonresident aliens who received income from U.S. sources in 2016 also must determine whether they have a U.S. tax obligation. The filing deadline for nonresident aliens is April 18.
• An annual reporting requirement that applied to taxpayers with interests in either of two popular Canadian retirement plans — registered retirement savings plans and registered retirement income funds — has been eliminated, so they don’t need to file Form 8891 to report details on these plans.
• For tax year 2016, certain domestic corporations, partnerships and trusts that are considered formed for the purpose of holding specified foreign financial assets must file a Form 8938 if the total value of those assets exceeds $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or $75,000 at any time during the tax year.

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