FBAR / FATCA Alarm

A United States person with a financial interest in, or signature authority over, one or more foreign financial accounts must file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) if the aggregate value of those accounts exceeds ten thousand dollars at any time during the calendar year — a peak, not a year-end balance. Every account is added together; an NRE, NRO and FCNR account each under the threshold alone can still cross it combined.

FinCEN Form 114 is due by 15 April, but every filer receives an automatic extension to 15 October with no separate request required. A non-willful failure to file carries a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars; a willful failure carries a penalty of up to the greater of one hundred thousand dollars or half the account balances involved. These are the statutory maximums as published; they are periodically adjusted for inflation, so a current-year figure can run higher than the number written here.

An unmarried specified individual (or one filing separately) who lives in the United States must file Form 8938 if the total value of specified foreign financial assets is more than fifty thousand dollars on the last day of the tax year, or more than seventy-five thousand dollars at any time during the year — either test alone is enough to require filing.

A married couple filing jointly who lives in the United States must file Form 8938 if the total value of specified foreign financial assets is more than one hundred thousand dollars on the last day of the tax year, or more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars at any time during the year.

A specified individual who meets the IRS presence-abroad test faces higher Form 8938 thresholds: unmarried or filing separately, more than two hundred thousand dollars at year-end or three hundred thousand dollars at any time; married filing jointly, more than four hundred thousand dollars at year-end or six hundred thousand dollars at any time. This is a residency test tied to time spent outside the United States, separate from citizenship or green-card status.

Form 8938 is attached to the annual income tax return and is due the same date as that return, including any extension actually filed for it — there is no separate automatic extension the way FBAR has one. Failing to disclose carries a penalty of up to ten thousand dollars, plus an additional ten thousand dollars for each thirty days a filing remains missing after the IRS gives notice of the failure.