This goes out to all Yanks who have bank accounts in Brasil (or elsewhere), which have an aggregate value over 10 thousand USD.  Don't be a dumb-ass Yank, and fail to file a report with the Treasury Dept. disclosing your account(s)!

Yes, I know, it sucks; IMO it's really none of their business; I personally hate doing it, but by failing to do so, you might find yourself landing in jail next time you fly back to the US.  I'm quite serious.

IRS Issues New Guidelines For Overseas Accounts

You have until August 31st of this year to voluntarily disclose any accounts you have been failing to report.  As for what happens after 31/08, I can only assume the bloodhounds will be released, and the hunt will be on.  Risky business, given the times in which we live....

The link below has the forms you need, as well as guidelines for filing the FBAR report.  You have until June 30th to submit the report regarding accounts you had in 2010.  The due date is the same every year; there's no extension.  BTW, you are NOT taxed on the money, you just need to disclose it.

Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

FYI, I disclose the amount of my balance on 31/12, determined by the forex rate on 31/12, NOT the "highest balance" (or best forex) at anytime during the calendar year, which would be too burdensome to calculate.

Yes, I know, it sucks; IMO it's really none of their business I agree that it's none of their business.  What's more, they may consider any interest on such a hypethetical account as taxable unearned income which is not subject to the basic exclusion for taxes paid on earned income in Brazil paid to Brazil.  Why give them the rope they can hang you with?

Originally posted by sven Errr, so how would the IRS know how much you have in your overseas account without you informing this?

How could Switzerland, KNOWN AND TRUSTED for their banking privacy and secrecy laws, kneel down before the US, and turn over info on account holders?!? 

It´s reasonable to assume that if details of money held on deposit in a Brazilian bank account is declared to the IRS, it follows that they would be interested to learn about how this money came into being and about any interest earned as income. In addition they would want to know the time scale of the account, interest paid to date and if such interest earnings had been previously declared on earlier tax returns; catch 22!

 I would suggest that the likelihood of all Brazilian banks providing a comprehensive list of ex-pat bank details to a foreign nation is a bit of a stretch of the imagination given the nature of Brazil´s banking system which is not at all like the Swiss laundry. In any event I suspect that the IRS are more interested in the multiple zero big fish money that is worth the effort of chasing.    

A country which taxes its citizen on their worldwide income EVEN if they permanently reside abroad (and should have been treated as non-resident for tax purposes by any civilized country) resembles me a medieval slave owner, not a modern XXI century state.