"Come Clean Thursday" - 2010 FBAR due to IRS June 30, 2011

[Stephen Gornick]

Each year by June 30th, US taxpayers are obliged to report all foreign financial accounts in which they have either a beneficial interest or signature authority, so long as the aggregate value of all the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The form is known as the FBAR.

 - http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-dont-forget-deadline-come-clean-thursday

I'm curious if Bitcoins held in a wallet on my PC might somehow be considered a "foreign financial account".  

How about bitcoins held at an exchange in Japan (Mt. Gox) or Chile (TradeHill), perhaps?

Or in an anonymous eWallet accessible only through Tor and whose location is unknown?

The only thing I've seen regarding this is:

I am not a tax lawyer/CPA/etc, so don't take any of this as advice.  But here is my opinion:
Bitcoin is not associated with any foreign country, so I don't believe FBAR regulations will apply.

- http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8090.msg118242#msg118242

[1714037270]

1714037270

[1714037270]

1714037270

[dr.bitcoin]

Than only leaves us 2 days to report all our exchange accounts? Jeez, that's not a lot of time 
How do I know MtGox has not reported my account already? I would hate to burden the IRS with double work...

[Stephen Gornick]

Than only leaves us 2 days to report all our exchange accounts?

The report covering 2010 is due June 30, 2011.

How do I know MtGox has not reported my account already?

The FBAR is filed by not by the foreign entity but by the U.S. taxpayer.

Also, MtGox is located in Japan though I don't know what their U.S. subsidiary Mutum Siligum reports.

[error]

Why do they call it "Come Clean"? It's not as if not telling armed robbers where to find your money is a bad thing.

[Anonymous]

Each year by June 30th, US taxpayers are obliged to self incriminate

fix'd

[Stephen Gornick]

More from ZeroHedge  Simon Black of Sovereign Man:

The gold ruling is new this year, and we first reported this back in March. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Division (FinCEN) made it quite clear that any gold held in the custody of another firm or individual constituted a foreign financial account and needs to be reported on the FBAR.

Frankly I’m starting to believe that this was part of a larger movement to recast gold as a ‘financial instrument,’ subjecting precious metals to regulation, control, and potential confiscation.

Given what we’re seeing now with so many brokerages cutting off their OTC gold contracts, this hypothesis is becoming more credible. I’ll have more on this working theory in another letter.

  - http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/dont-forget-to-come-clean-fbar

[dr.bitcoin]

MtGox may be located in Japan, but Mark is (I think) an American citizen.
I guess if the IRS/FBI/etc. would bark at him, he would fill our FBAR paperwork in no time :-)

Stephen, I am being sarcastic  I know we're the ones supposed to do it, not him 

[Stephen Gornick]

Just to put a bookend on this post, discussion on this specific topic continues here:
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=55260.0

[Seal]

Each year by June 30th, US taxpayers are obliged to report all foreign financial accounts in which they have either a beneficial interest or signature authority, so long as the aggregate value of all the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The form is known as the FBAR.

How about bitcoins held at an exchange in Japan (Mt. Gox) or Chile (TradeHill), perhaps?

More importantly and more obviously... how about CASH held at an exchange at Gox or TH...?