The “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (FATCA) recently created a new disclosure requirement that need to be attached to individual income tax returns starting with 2011 tax returns.

It applies to “U.S. persons” who typically include U.S. citizens, permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders) and aliens who are residents of U.S. and are required to file U.S. resident tax returns.

The reportable assets include, but not limited to:

• Savings, deposit, checking and brokerage accounts held with a bank or broker-dealer
• Stock or securities issued by a foreign corporation;
• A note, bond or debenture issued by a foreign person;
• An interest rate swap, currency swap, basis swap, interest rate cap, interest rate floor, commodity swap, equity swap, equity index swap, credit default swap or similar agreement with a foreign counterparty;
• An option or other derivative instrument with respect to any of these examples or with respect to any currency or commodity that is entered into with a foreign counterparty or issuer;
• A partnership interest in a foreign partnership;
• An interest in a foreign retirement plan or deferred compensation plan;
• An interest in a foreign estate;
• Any interest in a foreign-issued insurance contract or annuity with a cash-surrender value.

The amounts above which disclosure is required are as follows:

Please let us know if you meet the disclosure requirements so that we can prepare the disclosure documents along with your personal income tax returns.