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Who Must File the FBAR? A United States person that has a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts must file an FBAR if the aggregate value of the foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

When to File The FBAR is an annual report, due April 15 following the calendar year reported. You're allowed an automatic extension to October 15 if you fail to meet the FBAR annual due date of April 15. You don't need to request an extension to file the FBAR.

Reporting a foreign retirement plan will differ depending upon the type of plan and form. A foreign retirement plan is only reportable on an FBAR if it is associated with a segregated foreign retirement account, since it is the foreign account not the plan itself that triggers the obligation to file the FBAR.

An account with a balance under $10,000 MAY need to be reported on an FBAR. A person required to file an FBAR must report all of his or her foreign financial accounts, including any accounts with balances under $10,000.

Since foreign accounts are taxable, the IRS and U.S. Treasury have a very rigid process for declaring overseas assets. Any American citizen with foreign bank accounts totaling more than $10,000 in aggregate, or at any time during the calendar year, is required to report such accounts to the Treasury Department.

In a global economy, many people in the United States have foreign financial accounts. The law requires U.S. persons with foreign financial accounts to report their accounts to the U.S. Treasury Department, even if the accounts don't generate any taxable income.

The FBAR form is required to be filed each year if the total balance of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 during the year. Foreign financial accounts include, but are not limited to; checking, savings, securities, brokerage, deposit, or any other account held with a financial institution.

Failing to file an FBAR can carry a civil penalty of $10,000 for each non-willful violation. But if your violation is found to be willful, the penalty is the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the amount in the account for each violation and each year you didn't file is a separate violation.