FinCEN 114
FinCEN, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
The annual report of foreign accounts filed with FinCEN, separate from the tax return, once combined balances pass the threshold.
What is FinCEN 114?
The FBAR is filed by US persons whose foreign accounts together exceed the reporting threshold at any point in the year. It goes to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, not the IRS, and it is not part of the tax return. For Americans in the UK, it usually covers current accounts, savings accounts, ISAs and investment platforms.
Reporting UK accounts to the Treasury
The threshold is an aggregate. If the highest balances of all foreign accounts, added together, exceed $10,000 at any time in the year, every account is reported, including small ones.
The maximum value of each account is converted to dollars at the Treasury year-end rate. The report is filed electronically through the BSA E-Filing System and is due 15 April, extended automatically to 15 October, with no request needed for the later date.
Ownership is not the only trigger. Signature authority over an account also counts, which catches employees who can move money in an employer's account, parents named on a child's account, and people holding a power of attorney for an elderly relative. Joint accounts with a non-US spouse are reported in full by the US spouse. Accounts held through an entity may be reportable where the filer owns more than half of it.
Penalties are the reason the FBAR draws attention. The non-wilful penalty applies per report rather than per account, following the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Bittner v. United States. Wilful failures carry much heavier penalties. Records of each account must be kept for five years. People who have missed years usually look at the Streamlined procedures or the delinquent FBAR submission procedures, depending on whether income was also left off their returns.
At a glance
- FinCEN through BSA E-Filing, not the IRS
- Filed with
- Aggregate above $10,000 at any time
- Threshold
- 15 April, extended automatically to 15 October
- Due
- Five years
- Records kept for
Figures are for the tax year stated in the official instructions linked below.
How we handle it
- Foreign Income & FBAR
FBAR and Form 8938 reporting for UK accounts, with the income those accounts produce reported correctly on the US return.
- IRS Streamlined Filing
Catch-up filing under the IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for people whose missed US returns and FBARs were non-wilful.
- Individual Tax Returns
US federal returns for Americans living in the UK and British nationals with US income, prepared with the UK figures in view.
- Cross-Border Tax
US and UK returns prepared together from one set of workpapers, so credits, tax years and exchange rates line up across both.
Where people go wrong
The FinCEN 114 errors we correct most often.
Who files it
- US citizens in the UK with current, savings or ISA accounts at British banks
- Green card holders with accounts left behind in their home country
- Employees with signature authority over their employer's UK accounts
- Adult children holding power of attorney over a parent's foreign accounts
01
Testing each account against the threshold separately instead of adding them together
02
Leaving out accounts where the filer has signature authority but no ownership
03
Using year-end balances instead of the highest balance during the year
04
Assuming the FBAR is sent with the tax return or to the IRS
Why US UK Tax Returns
Every form is prepared against the official instructions, and every position on it is one we can point to in the Code, the treaty or HMRC's guidance.
One File
US and UK returns prepared in the same engagement and reconciled line by line.
Primary Sources
Every position traced to the Code, the treaty, IRS instructions or HMRC guidance.
Scope First
Returns, forms, years and fee agreed in writing before work begins.
The Same People
The team that files this year carries the elections and credits into the next.
Questions we are asked
I have several small accounts, none near the threshold. Do I file?
Possibly. The test adds the maximum values of all foreign accounts together. If that combined figure exceeds $10,000 at any time in the year, every account must be reported, even ones with very small balances. An ISA, a current account and a savings account can pass the threshold together without any one of them coming close.
Is the FBAR the same as Form 8938?
No. They overlap but are separate. The FBAR goes to FinCEN on its own, has a lower threshold and includes signature authority. Form 8938 is attached to the tax return, has higher thresholds for people living abroad and covers some assets the FBAR does not, such as directly held foreign shares. Many UK residents file both, reporting the same accounts twice.
I have never filed an FBAR. What should I do?
The route depends on whether all income was reported on tax returns. Where it was, the delinquent FBAR submission procedures may apply. Where income was also omitted, the Streamlined procedures are usually considered, with a certification of non-wilful conduct. Neither is available once the IRS has opened an examination. The facts of each year determine which fits.
Primary sources
What this page says is drawn from the official material below. Read it yourself; we would rather be checked than trusted.
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Also in Foreign Accounts & Funds
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