2024-06697. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Reports of Foreign Financial Accounts Regulations and FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

AGENCY:

Departmental Offices, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice of information collection; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The Department of the Treasury will submit the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. The public is invited to submit comments on this request.

DATES:

Comments should be received on or before April 29, 2024 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Copies of the submissions may be obtained from Spencer W. Clark by emailing [e-mail], calling [phone], or viewing the entire information collection request at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

Title: Reports of Foreign Financial Accounts Regulations and FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).

OMB Control Number: 1506-0009.

Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved collection.

Description:31 U.S.C. 5314 authorizes the Secretary to require any “resident or citizen of the United States or a person in, and doing business in, the United States, to . . . keep records and file reports, when the resident, citizen, or person makes a transaction or maintains a relation for any person with a foreign financial agency.” The term “foreign financial agency” encompasses the activities outside the United States of an entity that meets the statutory definition of “financial agency,” notably, “a person acting for a person as a financial institution, bailee, depository trustee, or agent, or acting in a similar way related to money, credit, securities, gold, or a transaction in money, credit, securities or gold, or a service provided with respect to money, securities, futures, precious metals, stone and jewels, or value that substitutes for currency.” The Secretary is also authorized to prescribe exemptions to the reporting requirement and to prescribe other matters the Secretary considers necessary to carry out 31 U.S.C. 5314.

The regulations implementing 31 U.S.C. 5314 appear at 31 CFR 1010.350, 1010.360, and 1010.420. 31 CFR 1010.350 generally requires each U.S. person having a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, a bank, securities, or other financial account in a foreign country to report such relationship to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for each year such relationship exists, and to provide and report such information specified in a reporting form prescribed under 31 U.S.C. 5314. The FinCEN Report 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) is used to file the information required by this section. The FBAR must be filed electronically with FinCEN. 31 CFR 1010.306(c) requires the FBAR to be filed for foreign financial accounts exceeding $10,000 maintained during the previous calendar year. No FBAR is required to be filed if the aggregate account value of foreign financial accounts maintained during the previous calendar year is below $10,000.

31 CFR 1010.420 outlines the recordkeeping requirements associated with foreign financial accounts required to be reported under section 1010.350. Specifically, filers must retain records of such accounts for a period of five years and make the records available for inspection as authorized by law.

Form: FinCEN Report 114.

Affected Public: Individuals and households.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,503,807.

Frequency of Response: Annually.

Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 1,503,807.

Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,503,807.

Authority:44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Spencer W. Clark,

Treasury PRA Clearance Officer.