The FBAR, and Form 8938

The Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) - FinCEN Form 114, and Form 8938 - Statement of Foreign Financial Assets (FATCA)

Any person or entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (including individuals, corporations, partnerships, trusts, and estates) having a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, bank accounts, securities, or other financial accounts all together having a value exceeding US$10,000 in a foreign country shall report such a relationship.

With limited exceptions, filing requirements also apply to taxpayers that have direct or indirect control over a foreign or domestic entity with foreign financial accounts, even if the taxpayer does not have foreign account(s). Failure to disclose the required information to the U.S. Department of the Treasury may result in substantial civil and/or criminal penalties.

A United States person includes a citizen of the United States, a Green Card Holder, and a resident of the United States under the substantial presence test. An otherwise non-U.S. person who makes an election to file a U.S. tax return jointly with their U.S. citizen spouse is also considered a U.S. person for purposes of filing the FBAR, Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) and other information forms.

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Examples of FBAR reportable financial accounts/assets include but are not limited to the following:

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• ALL financial accounts, including giro, savings/checking and investment accounts (Depot), that you own alone or jointly with another including non-U.S. persons. Also, Paypal accounts, credit/debit cards and safe deposit box with a cash balance are FBAR reportable accounts. 

• Any of the above accounts owned by another person even if they were not a U.S. person, but on which you had power of attorney or signature authority (e.g. power of attorney) such as your spouse's, parent's or children's financial accounts.

• Employer pension plans (but not national pensions).

• Private pension or life insurance contracts with buy-back value.

*in all cases, 100% of the highest account balance or value is to be declared on the FBAR, even if owned jointly with another person.

*minor U.S. citizens or Green Card holders or other U.S. residents have the same filing obligations as adults. Parents or Guardians are responsible for filing the FBARs of their children/ward. The same filing requirements apply to children.

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For further details about the FBAR filing requirement, please refer to the comprehensive FBAR guide linked below.

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The FBAR may only be electronically filed and is due by June 15 every year. Below are some useful links including FinCEN's E-file portal, guides for completing the FBAR and exchange rates:

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• Download the latest FBAR fillable form and submit it here.

• For further information about the FBAR, click here. 

• For a comparison of the FBAR and Form 8938 filing requirements, click here.

• For current year exchange rates click here.

• For the IRS Comprehensive FBAR Reference Guide, click here.

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​Form 8938: certain Clients need to file Form 8938 with their Federal tax return. Form 8938 may look similar to the FBAR but does not replace the FBAR and has a different purpose to the FBAR. It carries harsh non-compliance penalties like the FBAR. To prepare the form, we will use your FBAR data as starting point so if you prepared your FBAR yourself, please provide us with a copy of your filed FBAR for the preparation of your Form 8938.