FBAR + FORM 8938 CHECKER · RUNS IN YOUR BROWSER · NOTHING UPLOADED

Do your foreign accounts trigger an FBAR or a Form 8938?

List each foreign account or asset with its highest and year-end balance in the local currency and a USD exchange rate. The tool adds them up the way the rules do and tells you which filings the thresholds trigger, and why.

Arithmetic on assumptions you type. Not tax, legal or financial advice. The example accounts are placeholders, not yours. The FBAR needs the Treasury year-end exchange rate; Form 8938 allows a reasonable published rate.

1. About you

2. Foreign accounts and assets

Joint accounts: each owner counts the whole balance. Rate = US dollars per one unit of the local currency (for example 1.27 for GBP).

Questions people ask

Do I have to file an FBAR?

If you are a US citizen, green card holder or US resident and the combined highest balances of all your foreign financial accounts went above $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. The $10,000 is an aggregate across accounts, so five accounts of $2,500 each can trigger it. Balances are converted to dollars at the Treasury year-end rate.

When is the FBAR due, and where do I file it?

April 15 following the calendar year, with an automatic extension to October 15 and no request needed. It is filed electronically with FinCEN through the BSA E-Filing system, not with your tax return.

What is the difference between the FBAR and Form 8938?

They are separate filings with separate thresholds. The FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) goes to FinCEN and has a flat $10,000 aggregate threshold. Form 8938 goes to the IRS with your income tax return and has higher thresholds that depend on filing status and whether you live abroad. Many people with foreign accounts have to file both, and filing one never replaces the other.

What are the Form 8938 thresholds?

Living in the US: single or married filing separately $50,000 on the last day of the year or $75,000 at any time; married filing jointly $100,000 and $150,000. Living abroad: single or separate $200,000 and $300,000; joint $400,000 and $600,000.

Does foreign stock I own directly count?

For Form 8938, yes: foreign stock or securities held outside a financial account, and interests in foreign companies, partnerships or trusts, are specified foreign financial assets. They are not reported on the FBAR unless held in an account.

What are the penalties for missing them?

A non-willful FBAR violation carries a civil penalty of several thousand dollars up to the low five figures, adjusted yearly; willful violations can reach the greater of about six figures or half the account balance. Form 8938 starts at $10,000 and can grow for continued failure. The IRS streamlined and delinquent submission procedures exist for people who missed filings non-willfully. Talk to a tax professional before filing late.

Is this tax advice?

No. It is arithmetic on the figures you type. Verify with the FinCEN FBAR instructions, the Form 8938 instructions and a qualified professional.

Not decided

Whether you are a US person for these purposes, accounts held through foreign entities or trusts you control, indirect interests, how to value an account with no statements, exchange-rate sources for each filing, reportable foreign assets on other forms (8621, 3520, 5471, 8865), state rules, and any penalty relief. Thresholds can change by law and are tied to the tax year.

Related tools: the foreign earned income exclusion day counter and the estimated tax penalty calculator.