2012-01-20
The Treasury Department issued a new FBAR in January 2012. This is the third revision of the form in less than one year.
The instructions to the FBAR (TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) were substantially revised in March 2011. In November 2011, according to Willem Perez, there were two changes to the instructions (relating to the estimated time to complete the form and relating to amended forms).
The latest version of the form appears to only change who to contact if you have questions (page 7). The old form (from two months ago) indicated that questions should be directed to the Detroit Computing Center Hotline at an 800 number. Now the form specifies to call 866-270-0733 number for domestic callers and 313-234-6146 for international callers.
The new instructions also include an email address for questions: FBARquestions@irs.gov. With taxpayers so concerned about FBAR penalties, providing an email address for questions is a step in the right direction.