Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts - FinCEN Form 114
What is Fincen 114?
FinCEN form 114 is used to report a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account.
Commonly called the foreign bank account report (FBAR), the FinCEN 114 is separate to the income tax returns and filed with the U.S. Treasury Department rather than the IRS.
Who Needs to File an FBAR
U.S. citizens, Green Card holders, other U.S. residents and corporations and partnerships are all referred to as a "United States person".
If you are a United States person and have a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts with a total value that exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year then you must file an FBAR.
The total value is for all your foreign accounts (not per account).
Financial Accounts
These Include accounts located outside of the United States:
Bank Accounts - Current and Savings
ISAs in the UK (Individual Savings Accounts)
Investments and Securities
Pensions
You need to report all accounts in your name, accounts where you are a signatory and where you have power of attorney.
Accounts where you are a signatory include business accounts.
Reporing Requirements
For each financial account you will need to include:
The name of the institution
The maximum balance on the account at any time during the calendar year (January to December)
The account reference
FBARs for Children
Children are normally responsible for filing their own FBAR.
If a child cannot file their own FBAR for any reason, such as age - the child's parent, guardian, or other legally responsible person must file it for the child.
If the child cannot sign his or her FBAR, a parent or guardian must electronically sign the child's FBAR - in item 45 Filer Title enter “Parent/Guardian filing for child".
How to File the FBAR
The FBAR must be filed electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System.
File Amended FBAR
If you have already filed your FBAR and need to make an amendment, you will need to fill out a new FBAR completely and check the Amend box in Item 1.
When To File
The FBAR is sent to the U.S. Treasury, due by April 15 each calendar year. If you miss the April deadline, there is an automatic extension to October 15 each year.
Next Steps
If you have any questions about which financial institutions need to be included, if you are behind on your FBARs or have not been filing, feel free to contact one of our U.S. expat accountants and tax preparers here.
