Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

ALBANY, GA -- You wanted to know what reasons a person would have for opening up an offshore account in today's Facebook story of the day.

While it is easier to open an offshore account, if there is more than $10,000 in the account and you are a U.S. citizen, you must declare it with the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS.

And there are financially sound reasons for having one.

“No, there could be good economic reasons to have an account offshore. With today's global economy, it could be that you get a better return on an account overseas,” says CPA John McDuffie with Mauldin & Jenkins.

Penalties for not disclosing can be a fine of the percentage of the account.