Avoiding the pains of filing an FBAR

[Maxim_311]

I will be relocating to Canada for work for an indefinite amount of time.

I recently learned of the FBAR

the Foreign Bank Account Report or Form TD F 90-22.1 is due by June 30th each year. Every “United States person” who has one or more foreign bank account(s) which at any point during the year reached an aggregate balance of over $10,000 is obliged to file a report with the US Treasury Department listing all foreign accounts.

I was wondering if using a bank that had both Canadian and US components.
Such as RBC Bank (ww w.rbcbank.com/banking-in-the-us/cross-border-solutions/index.html)
And simply transferring money from the Canadian branch to the US branch before it reaches $10k allow me to avoid the pain of having to file an FBAR?

Edit: I should mention Im not trying to avoid filing tax returns or paying taxes. Just the pain of having to file another form thats notoriously difficult.

[jeffmem]

I am guessing you already figured out the answer to this, but my educated guess tells me that because the location of your bank where the deposits go is in CANADA you will NEED to file the FBAR IF that Canadian side account any time during the year hits the aggregant of 10,000 with other banks that you have money in in Canada. The fact that other bank is in the US, regardless that it is a foreign bank it is physically located in the US and thus you probably do not need to file FBAR. What I would further suggest if you are worried if opening a truly US based bank and have the money in the US RBC account transferred to that other bank before it gets to 10,000. I am not an accountant, nor an expert, but I am someone who needs to spend 2-3 days a year filling out that stupid form because I have lived overseas for 20 years and have over 20 foreign accounts, even though most of my accounts have a $1 or $0 balance! I keep them open because of FATCA issues. And you will probably encounter FATCA issues in Canada also.

I am shocked that by doing a search on these forums that there is only two threads related to FATCA and FBAR. One is mine and one is yours.

[Mjenn]

I don’t know if this will work. For someone who lives abroad and has multiple and joint accounts FBAR is a pain. But if you just have one account abroad and you can track the highest amount each month, the actual FBAR isn’t that bad, it’s all the data tracking with multiple accounts that gets painful.

Some US banks have rules about opening an account if you live abroad so you have to have a us residence. Depending on what state you are from this could also cause further tax repercussions. Similarly many foreign banks just don’t allow Americans any more based on the often considered illegal reporting burden.

The US is notorious for being the worst country to expatriate from.

[~bs]

from what i remember of filing for clients, it's mostly a routine form you can pretty much copy yearly on your taxes. not really a big deal... they're mostly using it to try to catch people evading US taxes.

shifting money out before it hits the threshold during the year probably would mean you dont need to file, but could possibly count as something similar to "structuring". Doing transactions just to avoid reporting requirements.

Again, honestly, it's not that big a deal. Just file the form if you're required to. If you're at a point where the form is a PITA, you're likely retained professional assistance already

[snafu]

Welcome to SA. I missed your initial post. What region/city have you chosen? I suggest you choose a financial institution based on convenient location. I suspect nearly all your transactions will be electronic; you'll be surprised by high transaction charges. The largest bank [most locations, most clients] is RBC. I believe the latest poll gave 'best service' to TD [Toronto Dominion] parent of TD Ameritrade. Less expensive, least convenient is Credit Union but unless you regularly need a brick and mortar operation, I'd avoid expensive transaction fees. Perhaps purely electronic banking like 'Tangerine' or 'Simplii Financial' might suit your needs.

You transfer currency to/from any American account electronically, just a few clicks or avoid paying currency exchange fees by having a designated American Dollar account at your chosen institution.

Your employer will automatically deduct Income tax, whose rates will likely shock you. Filing Canadian income tax is easy peasy, fill in the blanks electronically. Likewise complete American Income Tax filing, it will likely generate a refund as there is a reciprocity agreement [at present]. The FBAR is repeated year after year, just the amount of income will likely change.

Good luck with move, hope it goes smoothly without drama. You'll have a bit of culture shock, there is a different viewpoint on most things that matter.