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FBAR Guard

Do spouses combine separately owned accounts for the $10,000 FBAR threshold?

Updated

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Short answer

No. Each spouse counts only the accounts they own or can sign on. Your spouse's separate account doesn't count toward your $10,000.⁠Source 1⁠Source 2

How the rule works

Each person adds the full value of any joint account to their own separate accounts and any accounts they have signature authority over. The deciding facts are whose name is on each account, whether anyone holds an account on another person's behalf, and who can instruct the bank. IRS guidance says family attribution rules don't apply to the FBAR.⁠Source 2

Example

Spouse A owns a foreign account worth $7,000 and spouse B separately owns an account worth $8,000. Neither has authority over the other's account and they share no other foreign accounts. Their $15,000 household total doesn't create an FBAR requirement for either spouse.⁠Source 1⁠Source 2

What to check

List each spouse's accounts separately. If they also own a foreign account together, include its full value in both lists when applying the $10,000 test.⁠Source 3⁠Source 2

Related questions

Full rules and more examples: Joint accounts, spouses and children

Sources

Official sources used for this page.

  1. Source 1: IRS, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) (opens in a new tab)

    U.S.-person and $10,000 tests, spousal exception, irrelevance of income-tax filing status and extensions for certain employees and officers.

    irs.govChecked Back to text

  2. Source 2: IRS, Internal Revenue Manual 4.26.16 — FBAR (opens in a new tab)

    Financial interests, signature authority, U.S. residency (including 6013(g)/(h) elections and treaties), family attribution, spousal filing, Form 114a parts and amended-FBAR identifiers.

    irs.govChecked Source updated Back to text

  3. Source 3: FinCEN, Reporting Jointly Held Accounts (opens in a new tab)

    Part III instructions, full account values, joint owner count, principal joint owner identity and blank items.

    fincen.govChecked Back to text