TaxesPersonal Finance
FBAR and FATCA | What US Expats Need to Know Before the Deadline
Two acronyms cause most expat reporting stress. Learn when the FBAR and Form 8938 apply, how the thresholds differ, and how to stay ahead of both without spreadsheets.
Aequify TeamEditorial @aequify
If you are a US person with money outside the United States, two reporting regimes matter: the FBAR and FATCA. They sound similar, are filed in different places, and have different thresholds. Missing either can be expensive, yet both are straightforward once you know your numbers.
The FBAR in plain language
The FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) applies when the combined value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds ten thousand dollars at any point in the calendar year. That includes checking, savings, brokerage, and many pension accounts, and it counts accounts you merely have signature authority over.
- Filed online with FinCEN, not with your tax return.
- The ten thousand dollar threshold is aggregate across all foreign accounts.
- A single day above the threshold triggers the filing for the whole year.
- Joint accounts and signature authority accounts count too.
FATCA and Form 8938
FATCA adds Form 8938, filed with your federal return when specified foreign assets exceed thresholds that vary by filing status and by whether you live abroad. Expats get higher thresholds, but brokerage holdings and foreign pensions push totals up faster than most people expect.
The practical move is to track balances continuously instead of reconstructing them in April. Know your highest balance per account, per year, in US dollars, and both forms become paperwork instead of panic.
