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FBAR & FATCA reporting
FinCEN 114 and Form 8938 prepared properly: thresholds checked, accounts aggregated, penalties avoided.
Disclosure done before it becomes a penalty.
Two separate regimes require Americans to disclose non-US accounts: the FBAR filed with FinCEN, and Form 8938 filed with your return. The thresholds differ, the definitions differ, and the penalties for silence are among the harshest in the code.
Most people who fall foul of these did not know they applied.
What we do
01
FBAR (FinCEN 114)
Aggregation across every account you can sign on, including accounts you do not own but control.
02
Form 8938
Specified foreign financial assets reported with the return, at the threshold that matches your filing status and residence.
03
Threshold review
An honest read of whether you are actually caught, before you file something you did not need to.
04
Catch-up disclosure
Late FBARs brought current through the appropriate procedure rather than filed quietly and hoped over.
Why us
The penalties are the point
FBAR penalties are assessed per account, per year, and the willful tier is punitive enough to matter more than the tax itself.
Getting the disclosure right is usually cheaper than any planning we could do elsewhere in your position.
When it comes to questions that cross two tax systems, you need specialists who work in both every day. Meet the team that make it happen.
View our peopleFrequently asked
Which accounts count?
Any non-US financial account you own or can sign on, aggregated. Joint accounts, business accounts you control and some pensions all count toward the threshold.
I filed the FBAR but not Form 8938. Is that fine?
No. They are separate obligations with separate thresholds filed to separate agencies. Meeting one does not satisfy the other.
What counts as a foreign account?
Bank accounts, most investment accounts, and some pensions and insurance products held outside the US. Accounts you only sign on can count even if the money is not yours.
Is the threshold per account or in total?
In aggregate. If all your foreign accounts together exceed $10,000 at any moment in the year, every account is reportable — not only those over the threshold.
What are the penalties for missing one?
They can be severe, and are considerably worse where the failure is treated as wilful. Voluntary correction before contact from the IRS is materially better than the alternative.
How is Form 8938 different from an FBAR?
Different thresholds, a wider definition of assets, a different agency and a different form. Many people need both, and filing one does not satisfy the other.
FinCEN 114 and Form 8938 prepared properly: thresholds checked, accounts aggregated, penalties avoided.
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