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FBAR Guide

The rules for reporting foreign bank and financial accounts on an FBAR: who must file, which accounts count, and how the $10,000 threshold and account values are worked out. Each page answers the question first and cites the official FinCEN, IRS and Treasury sources it relies on.

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  1. What is an FBAR and who must file?What the FBAR is, the four questions that usually decide whether it applies, and where it is filed.
  2. How the $10,000 threshold worksWhy the threshold is applied across all reportable foreign accounts, not to each account on its own.
  3. Which foreign accounts are reportable?Common account categories, what makes an account foreign, and cases that need a closer look.
  4. Maximum account value and exchange ratesHow to determine each account's annual maximum and convert it to U.S. dollars.
  5. Joint accounts, spouses and childrenFull-value reporting of joint accounts, the spouse exception and FBARs for children.
  6. Signature or other authorityWhen authority over an account you do not own, such as an employer’s, creates an FBAR requirement.
  7. How to file an FBAR yourselfThe practical sequence, from gathering account information to submitting through BSA E-Filing.