US international reporting has a peculiarity that surprises almost everyone: the same foreign bank account is frequently reportable twice, on two different forms, filed with two different arms of the US government, under two different statutes. Missing either one carries its own penalties.
The two forms are the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114, under the Bank Secrecy Act) and Form 8938 (the FATCA statement, under the tax code). Here is how they differ, and how to think about them together.
The FBAR in brief
- Who files: every “US person” — citizens, green card holders, residents, and US entities — with financial accounts outside the US whose aggregate value exceeded US$10,000 at any moment in the year.
- What counts: bank and brokerage accounts, foreign pensions held as accounts (MPF, and many others), certain insurance policies with cash value, and accounts you merely have signature authority over — including an employer’s account you can sign on.
- Where it goes: filed electronically with FinCEN (Treasury’s financial-crimes network), separately from your tax return.
- When: due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15 — no extension request needed.
- Penalties: for non-willful violations, an inflation-indexed penalty (assessed per report, per a 2023 Supreme Court decision, not per account); willful violations escalate to the greater of ~US$100,000+ (indexed) or 50% of the account balance — per year.
Note the threshold arithmetic: US$10,000 across all accounts combined. Three accounts holding US$4,000 each puts you over.
Form 8938 in brief
- Who files: “specified persons” who must file a US return and whose specified foreign financial assets exceed thresholds that depend on residence and filing status. Living abroad: US$200,000 at year-end (US$400,000 married filing jointly), with higher any-time-in-year triggers. Living in the US: US$50,000 (US$100,000 MFJ) — much lower.
- What counts: everything the FBAR catches plus assets that are not accounts at all — directly held foreign stocks and bonds, interests in foreign entities and trusts, foreign partnership interests, and certain derivative positions.
- Where it goes: attached to your Form 1040, filed with the IRS.
- Penalties: US$10,000 for failure to file, escalating with continued non-compliance, plus an extended statute of limitations on the whole return — often the most expensive consequence in practice.
The comparison at a glance
| FBAR (FinCEN 114) | Form 8938 (FATCA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed with | FinCEN, separately | IRS, with the 1040 |
| Threshold | $10,000 aggregate, any time | $50k–$600k depending on status |
| Signature-authority accounts | Yes | No |
| Non-account assets (shares, entity interests) | No | Yes |
| Required if no tax return is due | Yes, possibly | No |
| One satisfies the other? | No | No |
Where people go wrong
- Assuming one form covers both. It never does. Most established expats file both every year.
- Forgetting pensions and insurance. MPF accounts, employer schemes, and cash-value policies are accounts for FBAR purposes far more often than people expect.
- Missing signature authority. Finance professionals and company directors routinely have FBAR obligations over accounts containing none of their own money.
- Valuing carelessly. Both forms want maximum values, converted at official year-end rates. “Roughly” is how inconsistencies between the two filings are born — and inconsistency is what software flags.
- Stopping after a clean year. Thresholds are tested annually. An account that dipped below the line last year is back in scope the moment it crosses again.
If filings have been missed
Missed FBARs and 8938s rarely travel alone — they usually accompany unreported account income, which means the right fix is usually a coordinated one: the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (three years of returns, six years of FBARs) for non-willful cases, or delinquent submission procedures where income was fully reported and only the forms were missed. Filing years of late FBARs cold, without considering the wider picture, can do more harm than good. Our guide to the streamlined procedures covers the options.
The serviceable summary: FBAR for accounts, 8938 for assets, usually both, always consistent. Build the account inventory once, properly, and both forms become routine annual filings instead of annual archaeology.