A US citizen or resident whose foreign accounts together exceeded $10,000 at any point in 2025 must file an FBAR with FinCEN. Larger foreign holdings can also trigger Form 8938, filed with the tax return. For the 2025 year, the extended deadline for both is Thursday 15 October 2026.
Who has to file an FBAR
Any US person with a financial interest in, or signature authority over, at least one account outside the United States, where the aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. US person here means a citizen, a resident, and a domestic corporation, partnership, LLC, trust or estate.
The threshold is cumulative. The IRS's own example: two accounts with a combined balance above $10,000 at any one moment means both are reported, even if neither crossed $10,000 alone. Whether an account produced any taxable income has no effect.
A few accounts are excluded, including accounts held in an individual retirement account or a retirement plan of which you are a participant or beneficiary. Spouses who own every foreign account jointly can let one spouse file for both, provided FinCEN Form 114a is signed and the joint accounts are reported on a timely FBAR. Residence for this purpose follows the US tax rules; our comparison of the 183-day rule in four countries covers how the US counts days.
Who has to file Form 8938
Form 8938 applies to specified individuals, which the IRS defines as US citizens, resident aliens and certain nonresident aliens, who hold specified foreign financial assets above a threshold that depends on filing status and on where they live. The IRS comparison page, updated 19 September 2026, sets out the figures:
- Single or married filing separately, living in the US · more than $50,000 on the last day of the year, or more than $75,000 at any time
- Married filing jointly, living in the US · more than $100,000 at year end, or more than $150,000 at any time
- Single or married filing separately, living abroad · more than $200,000 at year end, or more than $300,000 at any time
- Married filing jointly, living abroad · more than $400,000 at year end, or more than $600,000 at any time
Living abroad has a precise meaning. The Form 8938 instructions require either a US citizen who has been a bona fide resident of a foreign country for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year, or a citizen or resident present abroad for at least 330 full days in any 12 consecutive months ending in the tax year. Once the threshold is met, every specified asset is reported, even assets that change nothing in the tax owed.
How the two forms compare
Most confusion comes from assets that sit on one form and not the other. From the IRS's asset table:
- Deposit and custody accounts at a foreign financial institution · FBAR yes · Form 8938 yes
- Account at a foreign branch of a US bank · FBAR yes · Form 8938 no
- Signature authority only, no financial interest · FBAR yes, subject to exceptions · Form 8938 no
- Foreign stock or securities held outside any account · FBAR no · Form 8938 yes
- Foreign partnership interests, foreign hedge funds and private equity funds · FBAR no · Form 8938 yes
- Foreign mutual funds and cash-value foreign life insurance or annuities · FBAR yes · Form 8938 yes
- Foreign real estate, foreign currency or precious metals held directly · FBAR no · Form 8938 no
Both forms report maximum values converted to US dollars at the year-end exchange rate. An entity that owns foreign real estate is itself a Form 8938 asset, valued including the property.
When the deadlines fall
The FBAR for a calendar year is due 15 April of the following year, with an automatic extension to 15 October that needs no request. For the 2025 year that is 15 October 2026. It is filed electronically through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System.
Form 8938 has no deadline of its own: it is attached to the income tax return and is due with it, including extensions. Citizens and residents living abroad get an automatic 2-month extension to 15 June, claimed with a statement attached to the return. Form 4868 gives six months, to 15 October 2026 for a 2025 calendar-year return. An extension to file is not an extension to pay, and interest runs on unpaid tax from 15 April.
What the penalties are
For Form 8938, up to $10,000 for failing to disclose, plus $10,000 for each 30 days of non-filing after an IRS notice, to a maximum of $60,000. Criminal penalties may also apply.
For the FBAR, the statute sets $10,000 for a non-wilful violation, and for a wilful one the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the account balance. These civil amounts are adjusted for inflation each year. The current table in 31 CFR 1010.821, read on 25 September 2026, lists $16,536 for the non-wilful penalty and $165,353 for the wilful figure.
How the non-wilful penalty counts was settled in Bittner v. United States. The government had assessed $2.72 million on five late reports covering 272 accounts. The Supreme Court held that the maximum penalty for a non-wilful failure to file a compliant report accrues per report, not per account.
Heed's reading: the $10,000 FBAR trigger is low enough that a salary account and a savings account abroad can cross it together in a single month. The forms that catch people are the ones filed separately from the return.
Heed monitors international tax law changes across every jurisdiction we track and sends personalised alerts before they affect your situation. For Americans who move between countries, the filing side sits next to digital nomad tax and the United States country guide.