FBAR — Foreign Bank Account Report.
FinCEN Form 114, filed annually by US persons whose non-US financial accounts together exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year. Separate from your tax return, filed with a different agency, and carrying its own penalties.
Figures on this page are stated for tax year 2025/26 UK · 2025 US. Thresholds change annually.
A disclosure, not a tax
The FBAR taxes nothing — it discloses. Current accounts, savings, ISAs, many pensions, joint accounts and accounts you merely have signature authority over all count toward the aggregate $10,000 trigger, measured at each account's highest balance in the year.
The non-willful maximum is the $10,000 statutory figure as adjusted for inflation — $16,536 for violations assessed since 17 January 2025 — and it attaches to the annual report rather than to each account, which is what Bittner v. United States settled in 2023. Willful penalties scale to half the account balance. The form takes minutes once the account list is right; the cost is entirely in not filing it.
- Filed electronically with FinCEN, due with your return (auto-extended to October)
- Threshold is aggregate across all accounts, not per account
- Missed years fixable via delinquent procedures or Streamlined
Two reports, one set of accounts
The FBAR is often confused with Form 8938, the FATCA statement of foreign financial assets. They overlap but they are not the same report. The FBAR goes to FinCEN on its own; Form 8938 is attached to your tax return and goes to the IRS.
The thresholds differ sharply. The FBAR bites at $10,000 in aggregate. For people living abroad, Form 8938 applies above $200,000 at year end or $300,000 at any time for a single filer, doubled for a joint return. Many people abroad file only the FBAR; wealthier households file both.
| FBAR (FinCEN 114) | Form 8938 | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed with | FinCEN, electronically | The IRS, attached to Form 1040 |
| Threshold (single) | $10,000 aggregate at any time | $200,000 year end or $300,000 any time |
| Threshold (joint) | $10,000 aggregate at any time | $400,000 year end or $600,000 any time |
| Signature-only accounts | Included | Generally not included |
Filing one without the stress
The work is almost all in the account list. Once every account is identified with its highest balance, the form itself is short. The mistakes we see are omissions: a dormant savings account, a child's account you control, a workplace pension, or an account closed during the year.
- List every accountInclude closed, joint, dormant and signature-authority accounts, and pensions and ISAs.
- Find each maximum balanceThe highest value at any point in the year, not the closing balance.
- Convert to dollarsUse the Treasury year-end exchange rate for each currency, applied consistently.
- File through FinCENSubmit online through the BSA E-Filing system and keep the confirmation.
Questions we get about this
Usually yes. An ISA is a UK tax wrapper, not something American law recognises, so the account inside it counts as a foreign financial account. Many pensions count too. Include them in the aggregate and report each one if the total passes the threshold.
No. It is filed separately with FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, rather than the IRS. It shares the April deadline and is automatically extended to October, but it is a separate filing with its own confirmation.
Do not simply start filing from this year. Missed years are usually fixed through the delinquent FBAR procedures or the Streamlined procedures, depending on whether your tax returns were also missing. The right route depends on your facts, so take advice before filing anything.
Yes, in full. You report the whole balance of a joint account, not your half, and it counts in full toward the threshold. Your spouse does not file an FBAR unless they are also a US person.
Related pages
- Glossary
PFIC: definition
Passive Foreign Investment Company — the US label that catches most UK funds, and why it hurts.
- Service
FBAR & FATCA reporting
FBAR (FinCEN 114) and FATCA (Form 8938) preparation: thresholds checked, accounts aggregated, and both reports filed alongside the return they belong to.
- Service
FATCA US reporting
FATCA reporting explained: Form 8938 thresholds for expats, how it differs from the FBAR, what foreign banks report, and the penalties for missing it.
- Free tool
FBAR threshold checker
Check whether your non-US accounts crossed the $10,000 aggregate FBAR trigger at any point in the year, and what to do if they did.
- Guide
FBAR & FATCA thresholds
FBAR and FATCA thresholds explained: which accounts count, how the $10,000 aggregate works, Form 8938 limits and fixing missed filings.
- Pillar guide
Tax specialists for US and UK
What US and UK tax specialists handle that a general accountant does not: residence tests, treaty relief, FBAR, PFICs, pensions, property and catch-up filings.
Further reading
- Form 8938 vs the FBAR: two reports, one set of accounts
Same accounts, two different reports, two different agencies. Here is what separates the FATCA form from the FBAR, and why many expats file both.
- Form 8858: the return a UK sole trade quietly creates
An American freelancing in Britain files a Schedule C and thinks the business reporting is done. Form 8858 is the return nobody mentions, and the penalty for missing it starts at $10,000.
- The $60,000 line: US estate tax for people who never lived there
A British family with US shares can cross the American estate tax threshold without anyone ever having set foot in the country. The line sits at $60,000.
Last reviewed · Figures stated for tax year 2025/26 UK · 2025 US. Thresholds and rates change annually — check figures against the current tax year before relying on them.
Behind on FBARs?
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