Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the Foreign Bank Account Reporting, so-called FBARS. These are basically a requirement if you maintain a bank account or multiple bank accounts outside of the United States with an aggregate value or a value in any one account of $10,000 or more. 

So for most people, anybody that is living abroad, this is probably going to apply to you. There are folks that it doesn't apply to and again everybody's situation is going to be based on their given circumstances. Do not view this video as operating in lieu of individualized tax advice. Again you may view this and say "well I don't have more than $10,000 in a bank account. I don't need to file an FBAR." Maybe, maybe not. Again, the facts in your case may warrant it. Do not presume that just because I make some if you will broad statements, that may or may not apply to given individuals, that is not the same as narrow advice, so I want to make that clear at the outset. 

That said, yeah most Americans I mean as a practical matter, they set these thresholds, this $10,000 threshold back when Pablo Escobar was roaming around the earth and I mean people that had $10,000 in an offshore bank account were of the jet set or they were some kind of offshore drug smuggler or something, it wasn't real common place. Well 10 grand in an offshore bank account now, I mean that's not, people that maintain a bank balance for their Retirement Visa in Thailand are going to beat that; 800,000 Baht is roughly 23,000 US Dollars as of the time of this video. So many folks are going to need to go ahead and file for an FBAR, or file an FBAR and failure to do so can result in a certain number of penalties. 

So the thing to take away from this video and understand is if you are worried about this one, especially for new expats, folks that have been abroad less than a year between 0 and 2 years, it is probably a really good idea to contact a legal professional and gain some insight and guidance because there is a lot of "you don't know what you don't know" when it comes to taxes and possible tax liability so just getting some insight conceptually on how the tax system works, how it applies to folks living overseas, that is going to be highly beneficial for a number of folks who are living not only here in Thailand but in greater Southeast Asia as well.