Bittner v. United States

Background

Alexandru Bittner, a dual Romanian–U.S. citizen, filed late FBARs covering 2007–2011 after returning to the United States. His corrected filings listed 61, 51, 53, 53, and 54 accounts for those years, a total of 272 accounts. The government treated each unreported account as a separate nonwillful violation and sought $2.72 million. The Fifth Circuit agreed with the government; another court had reached an opposite result in a prior case involving 13 accounts.

Reasoning

The Court framed the issue as whether the Bank Secrecy Act’s $10,000 maximum nonwillful penalty applies per required annual report or per unreported account. Reading the statute’s text, the Court found that the duty is to file required reports and that the nonwillful penalty provision ties penalties to the number of violations of that reporting duty. The opinion noted Congress used explicit account-level language elsewhere only for certain willful violations and for a per-account reasonable-cause rule, suggesting Congress knew how to write per-account rules but did not do so for nonwillful penalties. The Court also cited past government guidance, regulatory rules for filers with 25 or more accounts, and the rule of lenity to resolve ambiguity in favor of a per-report rule.

Real world impact

The Court held that the $10,000 nonwillful maximum applies per annual report, not per account, reversing the Fifth Circuit and remanding. The decision reduces the possibility of multiplied civil fines for people with many foreign accounts. The opinion left other questions—like what mens rea is required and willful-violation calculations—unresolved.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Barrett’s dissent, joined by three Justices, argued the statute naturally treats each unreported account as a separate violation and would allow per-account penalties.