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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →“Is that something that affects me, and is there something that I should do?” If you are a U.S. person with an account or investment outside the United States, the answer may involve two separate reports. The FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) generally covers foreign financial accounts when their combined maximum value topped $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. FATCA’s individual filing, Form 8938, covers a broader group of specified foreign financial assets and uses thresholds that change with residence and filing status. You may need to file one, both, or neither.
This is a general guide, not an individual filing determination. Your result depends on your U.S. status, ownership or authority over an account, asset type, residence, marital status, values and the reporting year. The IRS says plainly that filing Form 8938 does not replace an otherwise required FBAR.
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The short answer: treat FBAR and Form 8938 as separate tests
FBAR and Form 8938 are different information returns administered by different agencies. FBAR is sent electronically to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Form 8938 is attached to your federal income-tax return and goes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Filing one does not satisfy the other.
| Question | FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) | FATCA individual report (Form 8938) |
|---|---|---|
| What is primarily reported? | Foreign financial accounts, such as bank, brokerage and certain other accounts. | Specified foreign financial assets, a category that can include financial accounts plus certain interests in foreign entities and financial instruments. |
| Who is tested? | A U.S. person with a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, foreign financial accounts. | A specified person who owns specified foreign financial assets above the applicable threshold. |
| Value test | Combined maximum value of covered accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time in the calendar year. | “More than” thresholds based on the value on the last day of the tax year or the highest value during the year. |
| Where filed | FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System. | With the applicable annual federal income-tax return. |
| Typical deadline | April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15. | The due date (including extensions) of the return to which it is attached. |
These are screening rules, not a substitute for the current instructions. Special rules can change the result for trusts, estates, entities, retirement arrangements, jointly held property, employees with signature authority and other fact patterns.
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What the FBAR requires
The $10,000 aggregate maximum-value test
Under FinCEN’s filing instructions, an FBAR is generally required when the aggregate maximum value of all covered foreign financial accounts was more than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The $10,000 figure is an annual reporting threshold, not a tax-free amount and not a per-account limit. Two accounts that each peaked at $6,000 can exceed the threshold when considered together.
“Maximum value” means the highest value of an account during the year under the FBAR valuation rules. A temporary year-end balance below $10,000 does not by itself eliminate a filing obligation if the combined accounts exceeded the threshold earlier. Review FinCEN’s current FBAR Line Item Filing Instructions for valuation and currency-conversion directions.
The account relationship test
The value test applies only to accounts that fall within the FBAR rules and over which you have a qualifying relationship. Common triggers are:
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- Financial interest: you own the account, own enough of an entity that owns it, or otherwise meet the ownership rules.
- Signature or other authority: you can control the disposition of account assets by communicating instructions to the financial institution, even when you do not own the money.
An account does not have to earn interest or other income to be reportable. Do not assume that a dormant or non-income-producing account is outside the rule. Conversely, not every foreign asset is a foreign financial account for FBAR purposes; the account classification and applicable exceptions matter.
Who is a U.S. person for this purpose?
The general category includes U.S. citizens, U.S. residents and entities formed under U.S. law, subject to the detailed definitions and exceptions in the current instructions. A U.S. person can have a filing obligation even when the account is held in another person’s name if the financial-interest or authority rules reach the relationship. A non-U.S. person’s status can also change during a year, so use the rules for the specific reporting period rather than a general label.
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How and when to submit it
- Collect the legal name and address of each foreign financial institution, account number or other identifier, account type and the maximum value during the calendar year.
- Convert foreign-currency values using the method required by the current FinCEN instructions and retain the exchange-rate basis and records supporting your calculation.
- Submit FinCEN Form 114 electronically through the FinCEN BSA E-Filing System. Do not mail it to the IRS with your income-tax return.
- File by April 15 for the preceding calendar year. An automatic extension generally runs to October 15; check current FinCEN guidance for a particular year’s disaster or special extension.
What FATCA means for an individual: Form 8938
FATCA is broader than the individual form
FATCA is a statutory framework that also imposes reporting duties on certain foreign financial institutions. This article addresses the individual U.S. filing, Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets. It is not a discussion of a bank’s separate FATCA reporting to the IRS.
The three-part Form 8938 test
Form 8938 generally asks whether you are a specified person, whether you hold specified foreign financial assets, and whether their value exceeds the threshold for your circumstances. The asset definition can reach beyond conventional foreign bank accounts to certain interests in foreign entities and specified financial instruments. An asset can therefore be relevant to Form 8938 even when it is not an FBAR-reportable account.
The form is filed with the annual return to which it relates. It is not a stand-alone electronic submission to FinCEN. The IRS Instructions for Form 8938 describe the asset categories, valuation rules, exceptions and filer definitions.
Individual threshold examples
The thresholds below are the IRS examples for individuals. Each is a “more than” test: reaching the stated amount is not the same as exceeding it. “At any time” refers to the highest value during the tax year; “on the last day” refers to the value on the final day of that year.
| Filer and residence category | More than this on the last day of the tax year | Or more than this at any time during the year |
|---|---|---|
| Unmarried individual living in the United States | $50,000 | $75,000 |
| Married individual filing jointly and living in the United States | $100,000 | $150,000 |
| Unmarried or married filing separately individual who qualifies as living abroad | $200,000 | $300,000 |
| Married individual filing jointly who qualifies as living abroad | $400,000 | $600,000 |
These categories come from the IRS Form 8938 instructions. “Living abroad” is a technical qualification, not simply a decision to spend part of the year overseas. Use the applicable IRS definition and the filing status shown on your return.
Form 8938’s account overlap and difference
A foreign bank or brokerage account may be both an FBAR account and a specified foreign financial asset for Form 8938. Form 8938 can also include specified assets that do not fit the FBAR account definition. The fact that an account appears on one form does not automatically answer whether it belongs on the other, and an exclusion or exception on one form is not necessarily an exclusion on the other.
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Consider a U.S.-resident unmarried taxpayer whose two foreign brokerage accounts reached a combined maximum of $40,000 during the calendar year and whose specified foreign assets totaled $80,000 at their highest value. The account total is above the FBAR threshold, and the Form 8938 values are above the $75,000 “at any time” threshold for that filer category. Unless an exception applies, that fact pattern can require both filings.
Now change the facts: a foreign account peaks at $12,000 but the person’s total specified assets remain below the Form 8938 threshold. The FBAR test can still be met even though Form 8938 is not. In the opposite direction, an investment interest that is a specified foreign financial asset but not a reportable foreign financial account could trigger Form 8938 without creating an FBAR filing.
The IRS’s explicit warning is worth keeping with your records: “Filing Form 8938 does not relieve you of the requirement to file FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), if you are otherwise required to file the FBAR.” Read the IRS Basic questions and answers on Form 8938 alongside the current instructions when the forms overlap.
A practical decision process for a reporting year
- Identify your status. Determine whether you are a U.S. person for FBAR purposes and a specified person for Form 8938. Record your residence category, filing status and the tax year.
- Inventory every foreign holding. List bank, securities, insurance and other financial accounts, plus interests in foreign entities or instruments that may fall within Form 8938’s specified-asset definition. Include accounts over which you have signature or other authority even if you do not own the funds.
- Classify each item twice. Mark whether each item is a foreign financial account for FBAR and separately whether it is a specified foreign financial asset for Form 8938. Do not use one form’s list as a substitute for the other.
- Capture peak and year-end values. For FBAR, calculate the combined maximum value of covered accounts at any time in the calendar year. For Form 8938, calculate the specified-asset total both on the last day of the tax year and at any time during that year.
- Apply the correct threshold. Compare the FBAR aggregate to $10,000. Compare Form 8938 totals with the residence-and-filing-status row that fits your return, remembering that the IRS uses “more than” thresholds.
- Check exceptions and reporting already done. Review the current IRS and FinCEN instructions for accounts reported on another form, exempt filers, entity or trust arrangements, jointly held property and authority-only situations. An exception must match the precise facts.
- File through the right channel. Send FBAR electronically to FinCEN and attach Form 8938 to the appropriate annual return. Track each deadline independently.
- Retain evidence. Keep statements, ownership documents, authority records, exchange-rate support and copies or confirmation of each submission for the period required by the current instructions.
Deadlines and filing destinations are not interchangeable
| Report | Destination and method | General deadline |
|---|---|---|
| FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) | Electronic filing through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System. | April 15, with an automatic extension generally to October 15. |
| Form 8938 | Attached to the applicable federal income-tax return and filed with the IRS. | The return’s due date, including any valid extension. |
An extension of time to file an income-tax return does not change the need to consider the separate FBAR deadline, and submitting an FBAR does not extend or replace your tax return filing. Verify the current reporting year’s instructions before relying on a calendar date, particularly if you live abroad or are affected by a disaster extension. The IRS summarizes special considerations for U.S. citizens and residents abroad in its filing-requirements guidance.
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Common mistakes that produce the wrong answer
Counting only the year-end balance
Both regimes can look at a value reached during the year. A December statement alone can miss a short-lived transfer, sale or currency movement that put the account or asset over the relevant test.
Applying the $10,000 figure to each account
FBAR uses the aggregate maximum value of covered accounts. Add the relevant accounts before comparing the total with $10,000.
Assuming no income means no report
FBAR’s general trigger is the account relationship and value test, not whether the account paid interest, dividends or other income. Income-tax treatment and information-reporting treatment are separate questions.
Sending FBAR with the tax return
FinCEN receives FBAR electronically. Form 8938 is the form that accompanies the annual return. Sending the wrong document to the wrong agency does not cure a missing filing.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallTreating FATCA and Form 8938 as synonyms for every foreign asset
FATCA has institutional and individual components, while Form 8938 has a defined “specified foreign financial asset” scope. Do not say that every foreign property, account or investment automatically belongs on either report. Classification, ownership and exceptions control.
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Using the wrong residence or marital-status threshold
The Form 8938 thresholds are substantially higher for qualifying taxpayers living abroad and for joint filers. Confirm that you meet the technical residence and filing-status definitions for the year rather than selecting a favorable row informally.
Ignoring authority-only or shared-account roles
Someone who can direct an account may face an FBAR question even without beneficial ownership. Joint ownership, employee authority, power of attorney, trustee status and entity ownership each require the specific rules and exceptions to be checked.
When to obtain specialist help
Consider an international tax preparer or FBAR filing assistance when you have overlapping accounts and investments, signature authority without ownership, foreign trusts or entities, multiple currencies, a change of residence, amended returns, late or missing prior reports, or uncertainty about an exception. Bring account statements, organizational and ownership documents, authority agreements, tax returns, exchange-rate records and any prior FBAR or Form 8938 confirmations.
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Bottom line
Start with two independent questions: did your covered foreign accounts exceed $10,000 in aggregate at any time for FBAR, and did your specified foreign financial assets exceed the Form 8938 threshold for your residence and filing status? If both answers are yes, both reports may be required. File each with the correct agency and deadline, and use the current IRS and FinCEN instructions for the year in question before making a final determination.
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