Who Has to File an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114)?

What the FBAR actually is

The FBAR — Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, filed on FinCEN Form 114 — is a disclosure required under the Bank Secrecy Act (31 U.S.C. §5314 and 31 CFR §1010.350). It goes to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury, not to the IRS. That distinction matters: the FBAR is not part of your tax return, it is filed on its own, and filing one does not satisfy any income-tax obligation.

Who must file

You must file an FBAR if you are a U.S. person and your foreign accounts cross the threshold. "U.S. person" includes:

• U.S. citizens, including dual citizens and those living abroad
• U.S. green card holders and other tax residents
• U.S. entities such as corporations, partnerships, LLCs, trusts, and estates

The duty applies whether you have a financial interest in the account (you own it) or only signature or other authority over it — for example, authority over an employer's foreign account or a relative's account. Parents may also need to file on behalf of a child who has reportable accounts.

The $10,000 threshold

The threshold is an aggregate, not per account: add up the highest balance of every foreign account during the year, and if the combined total exceeded $10,000 at any single point, every account must be reported. A frequent and costly mistake is thinking the $10,000 applies to each account separately, or only to year-end balances.

• Use the highest balance each account reached during the year, not the closing balance.
• Convert foreign currency using the Treasury year-end exchange rate for that year.
• Review all twelve months of statements — a brief spike still counts.

Which accounts count

Reportable accounts are broader than just checking and savings. They include foreign bank accounts, brokerage and securities accounts, mutual funds, many foreign pension and retirement accounts, and life-insurance or annuity policies with a cash value. Accounts where you have signature authority or indirect control count as well.

What about crypto? As of 2026, cryptocurrency held directly is generally not reportable on the FBAR — FinCEN proposed extending FBAR to foreign virtual-currency accounts but has not finalized the rule. However, crypto held on a foreign platform may trigger FATCA reporting on Form 8938, and all crypto activity is still reportable for income tax. See our crypto tax guide.

Deadline

The FBAR for a calendar year is due April 15 of the following year, with an automatic extension to October 15 — you do not need to request it. For 2025 accounts, that means April 15, 2026, automatically extended to October 15, 2026.

Penalties — and what Bittner changed

FBAR penalties are among the steepest in U.S. law, which is exactly why proactive compliance matters. The amounts are inflation-adjusted each year; recent figures look like this:

In Bittner v. United States (2023), the Supreme Court held that the non-willful penalty applies per annual report, not per account. One missed year with ten accounts is treated as a single non-willful violation for the penalty cap — a major reduction from the IRS's former per-account stacking. Reasonable cause can reduce or eliminate non-willful penalties, and taxpayers who come forward before the IRS contacts them very often avoid penalties entirely.

Behind on FBARs? You have options

If you simply missed FBARs but reported all your foreign income, the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures let you e-file the late reports with a short reasonable-cause explanation, usually with no penalty. If you are behind on both your tax returns and your FBARs, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures are the usual path — see our guide to the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedure (SDOP). The key in every case is to act before the IRS reaches you first.

This guide is general information for educational purposes and is not tax advice for your specific situation. Tax rules change and individual facts vary — please consult a qualified tax professional before acting.