The days of US persons hiding their money in Swiss accounts is coming to a screeching halt. If a foreign bank account (specifically Swiss in this case) had at least $50,000 at any point since 2013 and it was not disclosed to IRS, keep reading as Swiss banks may be inadvertently tattling in the coming weeks.

On Monday, June 28th the fourth update from the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) hit the news outlets and Swiss government websites. What was a list of only 13 Swiss Banks in December of 2020, has been expanded to 40 banks, insurance companies, and fiduciary firms. Although the US-Swiss agreement on FATCA was solidified in 2014, the deadline for banks and individuals to “submit their opinion on the intended transmission of their data to the IRS” has now been established to be a mere 20-day days after the release of this notice (i.e., to Monday, July 19).

US Citizens or US persons with Swiss bank accounts, investment accounts, or insurance should come clean now and report these to the US. Potential penalties start at a cool $10,000 and only go up from there. Contact us for assistance with compliance or expatriation to avoid future filings.