FBAR Litigation Update | US v Schwarzbaum (11th Circ) | Can Loper-Bright Salvage a Win?
For help with FBAR penalties go to https:/www.irsmedic.com/offshore to book a time to speak with our attorneys.
Link to John Richardson's slides
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P7pE...
Here's the problem for Americans. The US government is squarely their enemy. US courts review US law and invariably rubber stamp nearly every claim of the government rtegardless of how ridiculous it is.
We know this as a plain reading of USC 31 USC 5314 does NOT mandate the filing of any FBAR Form. We explained the total absurdity here:
https://youtube.com/live/M49lCeCHJvg
In the case of United States v. Schwarzbaum (2024), the 11th Circut addressed the issue of FBAR penalties under 31 U.S.C. § 5314. The court concluded that the penalties assessed against Schwarzbaum were not excessive and were appropriate under the statute.
The court considered several factors to determine the excessiveness of the penalties, including whether the defendant was in the class of persons at whom the statute was principally directed, how the imposed penalties compared to other penalties authorized by the legislature, and the harm caused by the defendant. The court found that the FBAR penalties were concerned with defendants like Schwarzbaum, who held interests in foreign bank accounts and failed to report them as required by the Bank Secrecy Act .
The court emphasized that the purpose of the Bank Secrecy Act is to require U.S. citizens to report their transactions and relationships with foreign financial agencies to the IRS. Schwarzbaum, being a wealthy naturalized U.S. citizen with interests in foreign bank accounts, fell squarely within the scope of the statute. The court also noted that the penalties, even those taking fifty percent of an account in a given year, were not excessive as applied to Schwarzbaum United States v. Schwarzbaum.
The court however does not appear as if actually analyzed the claimed authority. Rather, the court blindly accepted the government's contention that the FBAR is actually authorized by 31 USC 5314 - even though this statute was not a part of the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Rather 31 USC 5314 was part of the currency control act - which makes sense as the statute regulations monetary instruments and not bank accounts. The BSA defines a foreign financial agent is a person, not a bank. Yet the regulation claims the opposite.
Yet the court upheld the FBAR penalties against Schwarzbaum, affirming the authority under 31 U.S.C. § 5314 to impose such penalties for willful violations of the reporting requirements.
This case underscores the amazing amount ignorance and depravity of thew US government - a government that thinks it is OK to penalize people cast sums for failing to file a piece of paper that the law actually doesn't require.
Join host Anthony E. Parent, Esq. a 20--year tax attorney and a top expert on FBAR penalties as he discusses this case with John Richardson of citizenshipsolutions.ca and Keith Redmond, Advocate for and Consulate to the American overseas.
Watch video FBAR Litigation Update | US v Schwarzbaum (11th Circ) | Can Loper-Bright Salvage a Win? online without registration, duration hours minute second in high quality. This video was added by user IRSMedic 01 January 1970, don't forget to share it with your friends and acquaintances, it has been viewed on our site 41 once and liked it 1 people.