## Facts

- Jane Boyd, a U.S. citizen, held 14 financial accounts in the United Kingdom whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 during calendar year 2010.
- She did not timely file the 2010 FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) and did not initially report related interest and dividends on her 2010 federal income tax return.
- In 2012, she entered the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, filed a late but accurate 2010 FBAR listing all 14 accounts, and amended her 2010 tax return.
- After Boyd opted out of the program, the IRS concluded her conduct was non-willful and assessed 13 separate non-willful FBAR penalties (one per account not timely reported), totaling $47,279 plus additions, under 31 U.S.C. §§ 5314 and 5321(a)(5).
- The United States sued in the Central District of California to reduce the assessment to judgment; on cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court ruled the statute authorized non-willful penalties on a per-account basis and entered judgment for the government.
- Boyd appealed; a Ninth Circuit panel reversed in a published decision, with a dissent.

## Issues

1. Whether, for non-willful FBAR noncompliance under 31 U.S.C. § 5321(a)(5)(A), the term “violation” permits a separate penalty for each foreign account or instead permits only one penalty per annual FBAR filing obligation when the taxpayer files an untimely but accurate FBAR.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s judgment and remanded.
- The court held that § 5321(a)(5)(A) authorizes only one non-willful FBAR penalty per year (per required FBAR report), not multiple penalties on a per-account basis, when an untimely but accurate FBAR is filed.
- The dissent would have affirmed, reasoning that each unreported account constitutes a separate violation warranting separate non-willful penalties.

## Legal Principles

- Under § 5321(a)(5)(A), a non-willful FBAR penalty is tied to a violation of the reporting obligation imposed under § 5314 as implemented by regulations requiring a single annual FBAR when the aggregate foreign-account threshold is met.
- When the regulatory scheme requires one report for the year, the non-willful “violation” for penalty purposes is the failure to timely file that required report, not the number of accounts that must be listed on it.
- Statutory text and structure may be read to distinguish between penalties that are report-based and penalties that Congress has expressly made account- or violation-amount specific in other provisions, supporting a per-report limit for non-willful penalties absent clearer account-based language.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit limited non-willful FBAR penalties to a single penalty per annual FBAR filing obligation when the taxpayer ultimately submits an untimely but accurate FBAR, rejecting the government’s attempt to impose separate non-willful penalties for each foreign account.


United States v. Boyd, 991 F.3d 1077 (9th Cir. 2021)