Do I Have to Report Foreign Bank Accounts to the IRS?

Yes — if you are a U.S. citizen, resident, or certain other U.S. persons and you have a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign bank accounts, brokerage accounts, or similar financial accounts, you may be required to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) each year. The FBAR filing requirement is triggered if the aggregate maximum value of all your foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year — even for a single day. The FBAR is filed separately from your tax return with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) using FinCEN Form 114, with a deadline of April 15 (with an automatic extension to October 15). In addition to the FBAR, taxpayers with significant foreign financial assets may also need to file Form 8938 (FATCA) with their tax return, which has higher thresholds but covers a broader range of assets. The penalties for failing to file a required FBAR can be severe — up to $10,000 per violation for non-willful failures, and significantly higher penalties for willful violations. The IRS has significantly ramped up enforcement of foreign account reporting in recent years.