Do I need to file Form 8938?
Form 8938 reports foreign financial assets with your tax return, once they pass limits that depend on where you live and how you file. List each asset's highest value and its value on December 31, in its own currency. We convert at the U.S. Treasury's year-end rate and check both limits. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Good to know
1What are the Form 8938 limits?
You file Form 8938 if your foreign financial assets add up to more than either of two limits for your situation: one for the last day of the year, and a higher one for any time during the year. The limits for people living abroad are four times the U.S. ones.
| Where you live, how you file | Last day of the year | Any time in the year |
|---|---|---|
| Abroad, single or separately | Over $200,000 | Over $300,000 |
| Abroad, married filing jointly | Over $400,000 | Over $600,000 |
| In the U.S., single or separately | Over $50,000 | Over $75,000 |
| In the U.S., married filing jointly | Over $100,000 | Over $150,000 |
"Abroad" means your tax home is in a foreign country and you meet the bona fide residence test or the 330-day physical presence test for the year. Our 330-day counter checks the second one. If you meet neither, the U.S. limits apply, even if you spent much of the year abroad.
Form 8938 is part of your tax return. In a year you don't have to file a return, you don't file it, however much you hold abroad.
2What counts as a foreign financial asset?
Form 8938 covers more than bank accounts. The main groups are:
- Accounts at foreign financial institutions: bank, savings, investment and brokerage accounts.
- Foreign shares and securities you hold directly, outside any account.
- Interests in foreign entities, such as a foreign partnership or some foreign trusts.
- Foreign pensions and deferred pay, and foreign life insurance or annuities with a cash value.
Left out: real estate you hold directly, like a home or rental abroad, foreign currency you hold yourself, personal belongings, foreign social security, and anything at a U.S. bank or broker, including U.S. funds, IRAs and 401(k)s. Crypto on a foreign exchange is a grey area: it could be treated as a foreign financial asset. What counts, in detail.
3How do you value your assets?
For each asset you need two numbers: its highest value during the year and its value on December 31. The December 31 values are checked against the last-day limit, and the highest values against the any-time limit.
- Use your statements. A good-faith estimate of the highest value from periodic statements is fine, unless you know they don't show it.
- Convert at the Treasury's year-end rate. Form 8938 uses the U.S. Treasury's rate for the last day of the year, the same rate as the FBAR. The checker has them built in.
- Adding the highest values is the cautious check. Your assets probably peaked on different days, so the sum can overstate the real any-time total. If you're over only on that sum, it's worth a closer look.
Once your total is over a limit, every foreign financial asset goes on the form, small ones included.
4How is Form 8938 different from the FBAR?
They overlap, but one doesn't replace the other, and many people abroad file both.
| Form 8938 | FBAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed with | Your tax return, to the IRS | FinCEN, separately and online |
| Starts at | $50,000 to $600,000, depending on where you live and how you file | $10,000 for all accounts combined |
| Foreign shares held directly | Included | Not included |
| Accounts you can only sign on | Not included | Included |
| Needed without a tax return? | No | Yes |
Because the FBAR starts so much lower, most people over the Form 8938 limits need an FBAR too. Check with the FBAR threshold checker, or see the full comparison.
5What if you missed Form 8938?
The penalty for not filing is $10,000, and up to $50,000 more if you don't file after an IRS notice. Tax underpaid on income from unreported assets can carry a 40% penalty. And until the form is filed, the IRS generally has longer to review the whole return.
If you missed it by mistake, the Streamlined procedures cover Form 8938 along with the returns and FBARs, without those penalties if you qualify. If all your income was reported and only the form is missing, the delinquent international information return procedures may fit instead. How we handle Form 8938.
Common questions
Do I file Form 8938 if I don't have to file a tax return?
No. Form 8938 goes in with your return, so in a year you don't need to file one, you don't file it, whatever your assets.
Does my home abroad count?
Not if you own it directly. Real estate in your own name isn't a foreign financial asset. If you hold it through a foreign company, your interest in the company can be.
Does my foreign pension count?
Usually, yes. Foreign pensions are among the assets Form 8938 covers. Foreign social security, like a state pension, isn't.
If I file Form 8938, do I still need an FBAR?
Yes, if your foreign accounts added up to more than $10,000 at any time in the year. The two are separate, and one doesn't replace the other.
Once I'm over the limit, do I list every asset?
Yes. Every foreign financial asset goes on the form, including small ones.
Over the limit, or close to it? We'll check what belongs on the form.
Tell us what you hold abroad. If past years are missing, we'll tell you the simplest way to fix them, for one flat fee agreed upfront.
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