FBAR Filing Guide for Reporting Foreign Bank Accounts

What Is the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114)?

The FBAR is a mandatory annual disclosure of foreign financial accounts, filed with FinCEN (the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network), a US Treasury bureau, under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). It is not filed with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and is not attached to Form 1040, though the IRS enforces it. “FBAR” is the requirement. “FinCEN Form 114” is the form. Same obligation.

The requirement rests on the Bank Secrecy Act, codified at 31 U.S.C. § 5314, which directs the Treasury to require reports on foreign financial accounts. Its implementing regulation is 31 CFR § 1010.350, which names who must file and sets the $10,000 threshold.

FBAR vs Form 8938: What Is the Difference?

The FBAR goes to FinCEN through BSA E-Filing at a $10,000 aggregate threshold. Form 8938, the Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), attaches to your Form 1040 at thresholds from $50,000 to $600,000 depending on filing status and residence, per the IRS comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR requirements. Many people file both. Filing one never satisfies the other.

Who Must File an FBAR?

Any US person whose foreign financial accounts exceed $10,000 in aggregate at any point in the year must file an FBAR, per 31 CFR § 1010.350. US persons include US citizens (expats included), resident aliens and green card holders, people who meet the substantial presence test, and US entities such as corporations, partnerships, LLCs (limited liability companies), trusts, and estates.

Does signature authority alone trigger an FBAR?

Yes. Signature or other authority over a foreign account triggers an FBAR even with no financial interest, under 31 CFR § 1010.350. This catches corporate officers, controllers, and employees who manage company accounts abroad. Certain employees of publicly traded or regulated entities qualify for an exception to signature-authority filing, per the FinCEN Form 114 instructions.

Who is exempt from FBAR filing?

Several account types and persons are exempt from FBAR filing under 31 CFR § 1010.350 and the FinCEN Form 114 instructions. The main exemptions cover US military banking facilities, correspondent accounts, retirement-plan accounts, and government or institutional accounts. The table below lists each exception.

Do Green Card Holders Need to File an FBAR?

Yes. Green card holders are US persons for FBAR purposes and are treated identically to citizens, even when they live outside the US, and including the year they obtain or surrender the card. A green card holder whose foreign accounts top $10,000 in aggregate must file FinCEN Form 114, per 31 CFR § 1010.350.

FBAR residency references IRC 7701(b) (Internal Revenue Code section 7701(b)). Claiming nonresident status under an income tax treaty tie-breaker does not remove the FBAR obligation. A dual resident who files as a nonresident under a treaty may still owe an FBAR on home-country accounts. New green card holders are often caught out: accounts kept from the home country become reportable immediately.

What Is the FBAR $10,000 Threshold?

File when the aggregate value of all your foreign accounts tops $10,000 at any point in the year, even for a single day, per the IRS FBAR page. The threshold is aggregate, not per account: three $4,000 accounts total $12,000, so you file and report all three. A momentary spike counts. The $10,000 figure has never been indexed for inflation.

Report each account’s maximum value during the year, not the year-end balance. This is the single most-missed mechanical detail. Convert that maximum to US dollars using the Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange for December 31 of the reporting year.

Which Foreign Accounts Are Reportable on the FBAR?

Reportable accounts include foreign bank accounts (checking, savings, and time deposits), brokerage and securities accounts, foreign mutual funds, and foreign pension accounts that are financial accounts, under 31 CFR § 1010.350. Canada’s RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) and Germany’s Riester pension are reportable when they are financial accounts. Foreign life insurance or annuity policies with cash value also count.

Foreign real estate held directly is not reportable on the FBAR, because the FBAR covers accounts only. Directly held property can instead be relevant to Form 8938 when held through a foreign entity.

The FBAR reports account balances, never income. Foreign interest, dividends, and gains are reported separately on Form 1040 and Schedule B.

Does Crypto Need to Be Reported on the FBAR?

Under current FinCEN guidance, a foreign account holding only virtual currency is not a reportable FBAR account. FinCEN has proposed, but not finalized, a rule to include foreign crypto accounts in FBAR reporting, per FinCEN Notice 2020-2. Conservative filers should monitor FinCEN for finalization. A hybrid account holding crypto plus reportable fiat assets may already be reportable.

How Are Joint Accounts Reported on the FBAR?

A US person with a financial interest in a joint account reports the account’s full maximum value, not their share, even when the co-owner is a non-US person, under 31 CFR § 1010.350. This differs from Form 8938, where you report only your portion. Reporting the full balance does not mean the money is taxed twice; the FBAR is informational.

Spouses may file one FBAR covering jointly owned accounts only when three conditions hold: all of the non-filing spouse’s reportable accounts are jointly owned with the filing spouse, the filing spouse reports all those joint accounts on a timely FBAR, and both spouses complete FinCEN Form 114a (Record of Authorization to Electronically File FBARs). If either spouse holds any separate foreign account, each must file their own FBAR.

When Is the FBAR Filing Deadline in 2025 and 2026?

The FBAR is due April 15 following the calendar year, with an automatic extension to October 15 that requires no form or request, per the IRS FBAR page. For the 2025 tax year, that means April 15, 2026, auto-extended to October 15, 2026. If April 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline shifts to the next business day.

There is no extra expat extension beyond October 15, unlike the June 15 income-tax extension for filers abroad. FinCEN also grants further extensions to filers in federally declared disaster areas by notice. Recent examples on FinCEN.gov include the October 11, 2024 extensions for Hurricane Milton and victims of the terrorist attacks in Israel, and the October 7, 2024 extensions for Hurricanes Helene, Beryl, and Debby and Tropical Storm Francine. Check FinCEN’s FBAR page for current notices.

How Do You File FinCEN Form 114 Online?

File electronically through the BSA E-Filing System; paper filing is not accepted. Individuals can file without registering an account; entities register. You certify the form under penalty of perjury and save the confirmation. Retain your records for five years from the due date.

1. Access the BSA E-Filing System. Individuals file without registering; entities and preparers register first.
2. Gather per-account data: institution name and address, account number, account type, and the maximum value during the year, converted to US dollars at the December 31 Treasury rate.
3. Complete Parts I through III of Form 114 and certify.
4. Submit and save the confirmation. Keep account statements and any Form 114a for five years.

How do you amend an FBAR?

File an amended FBAR through the BSA E-Filing System. Check the amended box, supply the prior report’s BSA Identifier, and explain the correction in the filing. Amend to add closed accounts that held funds earlier in the year, joint accounts, and signature-authority accounts you originally missed.

What Are the FBAR Penalties for Accidental Non-Filing?

Non-willful (accidental) FBAR violations carry a civil penalty capped at $16,536 per violation for penalties assessed on or after January 17, 2025, per FinCEN’s inflation adjustment to 31 CFR 1010.821. After Bittner v. United States (2023), the non-willful penalty applies per report, not per account. Willful violations run far higher. Reasonable-cause relief exists for non-willful failures.

What If You Never Filed an FBAR?

Two IRS pathways fix past non-filing. The Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures suit filers with no unreported income and no prior IRS contact: file the late FBARs through BSA E-Filing with a statement explaining the delay, usually with no penalty. The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures suit non-willful filers with unreported income.

Streamlined filing requires 3 years of amended returns and 6 years of FBARs. The Streamlined Domestic Offshore track carries a 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty; qualifying expats under the Streamlined Foreign Offshore track pay 0%, per the IRS. Do not quietly file only the current year. Quiet disclosure carries risk, and the IRS discourages it.

How Commenda Helps With Foreign Account Reporting Compliance

File FinCEN Form 114 by the automatic October 15 deadline if your aggregate foreign accounts topped $10,000 at any point in the year. Report each account’s maximum value, not the year-end balance. Accidental misses still carry penalties, but the delinquent and streamlined paths give non-willful filers a way back.

Cross-border tax compliance is exactly the unknown-unknowns problem Commenda’s tax and accounting platform solves: it tracks what you must file, when it is due, and confirms it got done. Pair it with Commenda’s compliance calendar to keep the April and October FBAR dates on schedule, and see our IRS Form W-8 instructions for the related withholding forms foreign account holders often need. Book a demo to get a review of your foreign account reporting exposure before the October deadline.