Do I have to report my foreign accounts on an FBAR or Form 8938?
Enter the highest balance of your foreign accounts and the value of your foreign financial assets, and see whether they are over the FBAR and Form 8938 thresholds for how you file and where you live. The balances shown are examples.
Are you a U.S. citizen or resident for tax purposes?A citizen, a green-card holder, or someone who passes the substantial presence test (many H-1B holders, often from their second calendar year in the U.S.). The Substantial Presence Test Calculator checks it. A nonresident alien generally files neither form.
Do you have to file a U.S. income tax return for the year?Form 8938 is attached to a tax return, so it applies only if you must file one. The FBAR is separate and does not depend on it.
How you fileSets the Form 8938 thresholds. The FBAR line is the same for everyone.
Where you liveAbroad has higher Form 8938 thresholds. The IRS counts you as living abroad only if you meet its bona fide residence or physical presence test. Most visa holders who live in the U.S. choose “In the United States”.
WHICH FORMS YOU FILEREPORTING REQUIRED
FBAR
Your foreign accounts peaked at $30,000, over the $10,000 line, so you must file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) with FinCEN by April 15, automatically extended to October 15. Your specified foreign assets were $28,000 on December 31 and peaked at $30,000; for someone unmarried or filing separately living in the United States the lines are $50,000 at year end or $75,000 at any time, so no Form 8938 is needed. These are two separate filings: one does not replace the other.
FBAR
Required
Form 8938
Not required
FBAR line
$10,000
8938 lines
$50k / $75k
UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT
Your balances against each line
Highest foreign account balance (FBAR)$30k
FBAR line
Foreign assets on December 31 (Form 8938)$28k
Year-end line
Highest foreign assets in the year (Form 8938)$30k
Any-time line
The FBAR line is $10,000 of combined foreign accounts at any time. For Form 8938, someone unmarried or filing separately living in the United States has lines of $50,000 at year end and $75,000 at any time. You are $20,000 over the FBAR line.
The FBAR and Form 8938 side by side
| FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) | Form 8938 | |
|---|---|---|
| Who files | U.S. citizens and residents, including green-card holders and people who pass the substantial presence test | The same people, if they must file a tax return; a nonresident alien only if treated as a resident |
| What counts | Foreign bank, brokerage, mutual fund and similar accounts, including ones you only have signature authority over | Those accounts plus foreign stock or interests held outside an account and foreign insurance or pensions with a cash value |
| The line | More than $10,000 combined at any time in the year | $50,000 at year end or $75,000 at any time (yours: someone unmarried or filing separately living in the United States) |
| Where and when | Electronically to FinCEN by April 15, extended automatically to October 15 | Attached to your income tax return, by its due date |
| Not filing | Civil penalties that can be substantial, and criminal penalties for willful failure | $10,000, up to $50,000 more after IRS notice, and 40% on tax understated because of undisclosed assets |
You can owe both, one or neither: the FBAR looks only at accounts and has the lower line, Form 8938 looks at a wider set of assets and depends on how you file and where you live.
How it's computed
FORMULA
FBAR: required if you are a U.S. person and the combined highest balance of your foreign financial accounts was more than $10,000
Form 8938: required if you are a specified individual who must file a tax return and your foreign financial assets were more than the year-end line or the any-time line for how you file and where you live
Every test is “more than”: a value exactly at a line does not trigger a filing
- Both tests use U.S. dollar values. Convert foreign balances using the Treasury’s year-end exchange rate for the FBAR and the rate on the last day of the tax year for Form 8938; ask your tax preparer about accounts held in more than one currency.
- This page does not decide whether you are a resident for tax purposes; the Substantial Presence Test Calculator and IRS Publication 519 do. A person who is a resident for part of the year can have special rules.
- The FBAR counts the highest combined balance in the year, adding every account. Form 8938 uses your total specified foreign financial assets on the lower thresholds for people living in the United States. The balances on the page as loaded are examples.
- Reporting an account or asset is not paying tax on it: the earnings are taxable in the U.S. either way. Some foreign accounts, such as a foreign mutual fund, have their own tax rules and forms that are not covered here.
- This is a threshold check. Penalties, reasonable-cause relief and late-filing programs depend on the facts; talk to a tax professional if you have missed a filing.
WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS
FBAR: the highest combined balance $30,000 against $10,000 — over it. Form 8938: $28,000 at year end against $50,000, and $30,000 at any time against $75,000 — not over either line.
SOURCES
[1]Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR requirementsInternal Revenue Service[2]Summary of FATCA reporting for U.S. taxpayersInternal Revenue Service[3]Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)Internal Revenue Service[4]Report Foreign Bank and Financial AccountsFinancial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)HSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026
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Questions about this result
If you are a U.S. person and the combined value of your foreign financial accounts was more than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The FBAR is due April 15 of the next year and is automatically extended to October 15. It is filed electronically with FinCEN, not with your tax return.
If you must file a tax return and your specified foreign financial assets were over the line for your situation. Living in the United States and unmarried, or married filing separately, the lines are more than $50,000 on the last day of the year or more than $75,000 at any time; married filing jointly, $100,000 and $150,000. Living abroad they are $200,000 and $300,000, or $400,000 and $600,000 on a joint return.
Possibly. They are separate filings to different agencies, and filing one does not satisfy the other. The FBAR has the lower line and looks only at accounts. Form 8938 covers more kinds of assets but has higher lines, and applies only if you must file a tax return.
It applies once you are a resident alien for tax purposes, which for many H-1B holders happens under the substantial presence test, often from the second calendar year in the U.S. Most F-1 students are exempt from counting days for their first five calendar years and so are usually nonresident aliens for tax. Use the Substantial Presence Test Calculator to check your own status.
For Form 8938 the IRS lists a $10,000 penalty, up to $50,000 more if you keep not filing after it notifies you, and a 40% penalty on tax understated because of undisclosed assets. FBAR penalties can also be substantial and are higher for willful failure. If you have missed a filing, talk to a tax professional before doing anything else.
How to value accounts and assets, foreign mutual funds and other investments that have their own U.S. tax rules and forms, married couples with only one spouse a U.S. person, dual-status years, and reasonable-cause relief. It checks the thresholds against the numbers you enter and nothing more.
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