(Mods, feel free to move/merge if a similar topic has been covered elsewhere, but I could not find a specific thread and did not want to hijack someone else's thread)
As a reminder, for those of you who file a U.S. tax return and are planning on filing timely/have not requested an extension, please note that the federal due date for returns that would normally be due on Friday, April 15, 2016 has been extended due to the District of Columbia “DC Emancipation Day” holiday that falls on Friday, April 15, 2016.
Holidays in the District are legal holidays for purposes of determining due dates under the Internal Revenue Code. Returns will be timely filed if they are filed by Monday, April 18, 2016.
Regarding state filing, some states have not conformed to this deadline or have conformed with respect to filing a return, but not with respect to payments otherwise due on April 15. Check your individual state deadlines.
Note: Due to Patriots Day, the deadline will be Tuesday, April 19, 2016 in Massachusetts.
To be clear, if you live outside of the US, you get an automatic 2 month extension to file - i.e., until June 15.
However, this extension only applies to filing. So for example, if you have an obligation to make quarterly estimated payments, (which is typical for expats) then you should make your fourth payment by April 15. (I expect it would also be moved later due to holidays, but am no expert.) Also, I've seen it stated that postmarked on time is considered filed on time, though I don't know if foreign postmarks count.
The FBAR is a calendar year report and must be filed on or before June 30 of the year following the calendar year being reported. Effective July 1, 2013, the FBAR must be filed electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System. The FBAR is not filed with a federal tax return. When the IRS grants a filing extension for a taxpayer’s income tax return, it does not extend the time to file an FBAR. There is no provision for requesting an extension of time to file an FBAR.
The FBAR is a calendar year report ending December 31 of the reportable year. Beginning with the 2016 tax year, the due date for FBAR reporting will be April 15 of the year following the December 31 report ending date as changed by section 2006(b)(11) of PL 114-41. If requested, this change also provided for a six-month extension of time to file the form (for tax years beginning after 2015).
I have paid my taxes on the very date from here and haven't been fined. You can make quarterly payments via the EFTPS website. You can also call them and pay with a credit card in a pinch.
If you are a US citizen or Green Card holder, and if you have more than $10k total in non-US accounts, then the FBAR is for you. If you do your taxes through an advisor, they should offer to do this for you, though they often charge separately for this.
If you do not file an FBAR, they can fine you $10k or more. However, I haven't heard horror stories, so it may be that they aren't too aggressive about small fry. It seems stupid to count on that though.
Also, if a Swiss bank knows that you are a US person, they may request copies of your filed FBARs - they can be penalized for harboring US tax fugitives if you don't file them so the bank is just trying to protect themselves.
So, "US tax fugitives" are Swiss citizens living in Switzerland who are compliant with Swiss tax laws but are being harassed by a horribly corrupt criminal foreign regime since they were locally taxed on their local earnings?
One of the building blocks of modern human rights signed by Switzerland, Chapter 1 of Article 5 of the Convention on Certain Questions relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, writes:
«Within a third State, a person having more than one nationality shall be treated as if he had only one. Without prejudice to the application of its law in matters of personal status and of any conventions in force, a third State shall, of the nationalities which any such person possesses, recognise exclusively in its territory either the nationality of the country in which he is habitually and principally resident, or the nationality of the country with which in the circumstances he appears to be in fact most closely connected.»
As viewed by the US government, any US person who does not declare their offshore savings could be a US tax fugitive. This is true whether or not they are also a Swiss person.
I'm not particularly happy about it either, and I am happy to see people try to change things, quixotically or otherwise. But explaining how the US government and Swiss banks see the situation might keep people just learning the ropes out of trouble. Distracting them with arguments that might (or might not) have traction in some hypothetical human financial rights focused court case does not.
Locals have local savings, not "offshore". The US government is offshore and thus a foreign criminal entity. The US is mostly relying on human rights violating threats to scare local victims into abandoning their constitutional right to privacy, but the 200 individuls prosecuted all live in the US:
The real problem in Switzerland is that the idiots in politics fell for the bluff and thus created the problem for banks which is now hurting the consumers. It's always the little guy at the end of the consumer chain who is always harmed the most from such horrible politics.