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“Is that something that affects me, and is there something that I should do?” If you are a U.S. person with an account, investment, or other financial connection outside the United States, that question can involve two separate filings: the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR, FinCEN Form 114) and IRS Form 8938, the individual reporting form associated with FATCA. They are not interchangeable. You may need one, both, or neither, depending on the type of asset, your ownership or authority, its highest value, your residence, your filing status, and the tax year.
Use this guide as a decision framework, not as an individual filing determination. The facts that matter most are whether you had a financial interest or signature/other authority, whether your foreign accounts exceeded the FBAR threshold at any time, whether your assets fit Form 8938’s specified-asset rules, and which residence and filing-status thresholds apply. Check the current IRS and FinCEN instructions for your year, especially for exceptions, currency conversion, trusts, entities, special deadlines, and penalties.
The short answer: FBAR and Form 8938 are different reports
FBAR generally applies when a U.S. person has a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, foreign financial accounts whose combined maximum value was more than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. It is filed electronically with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), not attached to your federal income-tax return.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteForm 8938 applies to a specified person’s specified foreign financial assets when the applicable value thresholds are exceeded. It is attached to the person’s annual federal income-tax return and filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Its asset category is broader than “bank accounts” and can include certain interests in foreign entities and financial instruments under detailed rules.
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The IRS expressly warns: “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.” One filing therefore does not satisfy the other.
| Question | FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) | Form 8938 (FATCA individual reporting) |
|---|---|---|
| What is tested? | Foreign financial accounts and your financial interest or signature/other authority | Specified foreign financial assets, specified-person status, and the applicable value thresholds |
| Basic individual value test | More than $10,000 in the aggregate maximum value at any time during the calendar year | Thresholds vary by residence, filing status, year-end value, and maximum value during the year |
| Where is it filed? | Electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System | Attached to the applicable annual federal income-tax return and sent to the IRS |
| Typical deadline | April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15 | The due date, including extensions, of the applicable annual return |
| Can both be required? | Yes | Yes |
The $10,000 figure is an FBAR filing threshold, not a statistic about how many people file. Form 8938 thresholds are also reporting thresholds, and the wording “more than” matters.
How the FBAR test works
1. Start with U.S.-person status
FBAR rules generally apply to a U.S. person. That category can include individuals and certain entities, with specific rules for residents, businesses, trusts, and other arrangements. Do not assume that living outside the United States ends the analysis; U.S. citizens and residents abroad can still have U.S. reporting obligations. The IRS’s guidance for citizens and residents abroad explains how international status affects filing requirements.
For an individual, confirm your status for the particular calendar year before applying the account-value test. Complex entity, trust, estate, and employee-benefit arrangements require the current FinCEN instructions rather than a simplified individual checklist.
2. Identify foreign financial accounts
List financial accounts located outside the United States for which you owned an interest or had signature or other authority. FBAR is concerned with the account relationship, not whether the account paid interest, dividends, or other income. A non-income-producing account is not automatically outside the rule.
Account location and ownership can be less obvious when a provider is multinational, an account is held through a branch, or another person is the legal owner. Use the account-location and ownership definitions in the current FinCEN FBAR Line Item Filing Instructions for those cases.
3. Calculate the aggregate maximum value
Add the maximum value of each reportable foreign financial account at any point during the calendar year. The test is aggregate: several accounts that are each below $10,000 can still take you over the threshold when combined. A single balance on December 31 is not enough if the combined balance was higher earlier in the year.
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Record the highest value for each account, the currency, the conversion method required for the filing year, and the date or period supporting the maximum. If an account was opened, closed, transferred, or held only part of the year, retain statements showing those changes.
4. Apply the authority and ownership test separately from value
Passing the $10,000 value test does not by itself make every account reportable; the account must also fit the financial-interest or signature/other-authority rules. Conversely, having authority over an account can matter even when you do not own the money. For example, a person authorized to sign for an employer’s foreign account may have a different reporting analysis from an employee who merely views account information.
Ownership through another person, a jointly held account, an entity, a trust, or a family arrangement can trigger special rules or exceptions. Do not omit an account simply because you did not personally deposit funds, and do not report an account twice without following the instructions for consolidated or jointly reported accounts.
How Form 8938 works
Specified person, specified asset, and threshold
Form 8938 uses three linked questions. First, are you a specified person for the tax year? Second, is the item a specified foreign financial asset covered by the form? Third, did the total value exceed the threshold for your residence and filing status?
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Individual threshold examples
The following examples come from the IRS Form 8938 instructions. They are “more than” thresholds; crossing either the last-day or any-time figure can matter. “Living abroad” refers to the qualifying residence category in those instructions, not simply any temporary trip outside the United States.
| Individual category | Specified assets worth more than this on the last day of the tax year | Specified assets worth more than this at any time during the tax year |
|---|---|---|
| Unmarried individual living in the United States | $50,000 | $75,000 |
| Married joint filers living in the United States | $100,000 | $150,000 |
| Unmarried or married-separate filer qualifying as living abroad | $200,000 | $300,000 |
| Married joint filers qualifying as living abroad | $400,000 | $600,000 |
For example, an unmarried U.S. resident whose specified foreign assets were $60,000 on December 31 has exceeded the $50,000 year-end threshold even if the assets never reached $75,000. Someone whose year-end value was $40,000 but whose value briefly reached $80,000 during the year has exceeded the “at any time” threshold instead. Joint-filer and qualifying-abroad categories use the higher figures shown above.
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The categories and definitions can change with the tax year and the filer’s facts. Review the IRS Instructions for Form 8938 rather than applying a threshold from a different year or assuming that a nonresident, expatriate, or married person fits a category without checking the qualification rules.
Assets that overlap with FBAR—and assets that may not
A foreign bank or securities account can be relevant to both forms, but the forms ask different questions. Form 8938 may require information about a specified foreign asset even when there is no “foreign financial account” for FBAR purposes. Conversely, signature authority over an account can be central to FBAR while not creating the same Form 8938 result.
Do not treat every foreign asset as reportable. Real estate held directly, personal property, foreign social-security rights, and interests held through particular structures may be excluded, included indirectly, or subject to an exception depending on the facts. The Form 8938 instructions control the classification; the general comparison cannot decide every asset type.
Residence and filing status can change the Form 8938 result
FBAR’s basic $10,000 account-value test does not use the four residence-and-marital thresholds in the Form 8938 table. Form 8938 does. A qualifying taxpayer living abroad can have substantially higher thresholds than an unmarried U.S. resident, and joint filing can change both the year-end and during-the-year amounts.
Determine residence and filing status for the tax year, then determine whether you meet the specific “living abroad” qualification in the Form 8938 instructions. Spending part of a year overseas, maintaining a foreign home, or receiving foreign income does not, by itself, establish the qualifying category.
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When both filings are required
Overlap is common. Suppose a U.S. resident owns a foreign savings account that reached $25,000 and also holds a qualifying interest in a foreign investment entity worth $40,000. The savings account can exceed the FBAR aggregate threshold, while the account and other specified assets may need to be evaluated together under Form 8938. The two forms then report overlapping facts through different systems.
Another person may have signature authority over a foreign account and therefore need an FBAR analysis, yet not meet the Form 8938 asset or value test. Conversely, a specified foreign investment asset that is not a reportable foreign financial account can require Form 8938 without creating an FBAR filing. These outcomes are not contradictions; they reflect the forms’ different definitions and tests.
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When an account appears on both forms, keep the identifying details consistent—institution, account number or other identifier, ownership, and maximum value—while completing each form’s own fields. Do not assume that attaching Form 8938 to your return automatically transmits an FBAR to FinCEN.
Where and how to file
FBAR: FinCEN’s electronic system
- Gather account records. Collect statements or institution confirmations for every foreign financial account, including accounts closed during the year, and identify your ownership or signature/other authority.
- Determine each account’s maximum value. Use the highest value during the calendar year, convert amounts as required by the current FinCEN instructions, and total the accounts.
- Complete FinCEN Form 114. Enter the filer, account, institution, ownership, and maximum-value information required by the form.
- Submit electronically. File through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System; do not mail the FBAR to the IRS with your tax return.
- Keep confirmation and records. Save the electronic acknowledgment and the supporting account records for the period required by current instructions.
FinCEN’s line-item instructions provide the field-level rules, including account types, ownership categories, and situations involving third parties or entities.
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Form 8938: attach it to the annual return
- Identify your return. Form 8938 is filed with the applicable annual federal income-tax return, not as a stand-alone FinCEN submission.
- Classify specified foreign assets. Separate assets that fit the Form 8938 definitions from assets that are excluded or covered by an exception.
- Calculate both measurements. Determine the value on the last day of the tax year and the highest value at any time, using the valuation and currency rules in the current instructions.
- Apply the correct category. Use your filing status and the qualifying U.S.-residence or abroad-residence category to select the threshold.
- Complete and attach the form. Include required asset details, income information, and identifying data with the return, then retain the calculations and source statements.
The IRS’s Basic questions and answers on Form 8938 address common scope and filing questions, but the form instructions control when a fact pattern is complex.
Deadlines: similar dates, different filing channels
FBAR generally has an April 15 due date and an automatic extension to October 15. Form 8938 follows the due date of the applicable annual income-tax return, including an extension of that return. A tax-return extension does not change the need to submit an FBAR through FinCEN’s system, although the FBAR’s automatic extension generally reaches October 15.
Deadlines and special extensions can differ for a particular reporting year, disaster area, overseas taxpayer, or other qualifying circumstance. Verify the dates in the current FinCEN and IRS instructions before relying on a calendar from an earlier year.
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- List every foreign connection. Include bank, securities, and other financial accounts; investment interests; instruments; and accounts over which you can sign or direct transactions.
- Separate accounts from other specified assets. The FBAR analysis starts with foreign financial accounts. The Form 8938 analysis starts with specified foreign financial assets.
- Document your role. Mark each item as owned, jointly owned, held through an entity or trust, or subject to signature/other authority.
- Calculate peaks, not just year-end balances. Use the FBAR calendar-year maximum and both Form 8938 measurements.
- Apply the right person category. Confirm U.S.-person status for FBAR, then confirm Form 8938 filing status and whether you meet its qualifying-abroad definition.
- Compare with both thresholds. Test the aggregate $10,000 FBAR amount and the applicable Form 8938 amounts independently.
- Check exclusions and exceptions. Review current instructions for retirement arrangements, duplicate reporting, consolidated accounts, trusts, entities, and other special cases.
- File in the correct place. Send FBAR electronically to FinCEN; attach Form 8938 to the annual return filed with the IRS.
- Retain evidence. Keep statements, valuation calculations, exchange-rate support, ownership documents, filing confirmations, and copies of both reports.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
“My account earned no interest, so it does not count.”
Income production is not the general FBAR threshold. A dormant or non-interest-bearing foreign account can still be relevant if the ownership or authority test and the aggregate-value test are met.
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FBAR uses the combined maximum value of reportable accounts. Add the peaks across accounts rather than checking them one at a time.
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“I filed Form 8938, so FBAR is covered.”
It is not. The IRS says Form 8938 does not relieve an otherwise-required FBAR, and the FBAR goes to FinCEN through a different electronic system.
“Only December 31 matters.”
FBAR looks at the highest aggregate account value at any time during the calendar year. Form 8938 also has an “at any time” measurement in addition to its year-end measurement.
“Every foreign asset belongs on one of the forms.”
Neither form covers every item merely because it is outside the United States. Classification, ownership, valuation, and exceptions control. Use the detailed instructions before reporting a foreign home, private-company interest, trust interest, insurance product, or other unusual asset.
“Signature authority is the same as ownership.”
They are different concepts. Signature or other authority can create an FBAR issue even when someone else owns the account, while Form 8938 has its own asset and ownership rules. Document why you can access or direct the account.
When professional help is sensible
An international tax preparer or other qualified professional can help when ownership is split among family members, an employer, a trust, a partnership, or a foreign corporation; when you moved between countries; when exchange-rate or valuation records are incomplete; or when a filing was missed. Ask the professional to analyze FBAR and Form 8938 separately, identify which facts support each conclusion, and confirm the filing channel and deadline for the relevant year.
Do not rely on a preparer’s general “foreign account” questionnaire alone. Provide the highest balances, account locations, authority arrangements, entity documents, residence history, and filing status so the professional can apply the correct tests. If you discover a missed report, obtain current IRS and FinCEN guidance promptly rather than submitting an improvised duplicate or attaching an FBAR to a tax return.
Quick Recap
Official instructions and explanations
- IRS Instructions for Form 8938
- IRS: U.S. citizens and residents abroad — Filing requirements
- FinCEN FBAR Line Item Filing Instructions
- FinCEN: How Do I File the FBAR?
- IRS: Basic questions and answers on Form 8938
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