FATCA

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is an important development in U.S. efforts to combat tax evasion by U.S. persons holding accounts and other financial assets offshore.

Under FATCA, certain U.S. taxpayers holding financial assets outside the United States must report those assets to the IRS on Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets.  

FATCA will also require foreign financial institutions to report directly to the IRS information about financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers or by foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest. 

If you must file Form 8938 and do not do so, you may be subject to penalties: a $10,000 failure to file penalty.

If you make a showing that any failure to disclose is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, no penalty will be imposed for failure to file Form 8938, however. Reasonable cause is determined on a case-by-case basis, considering all relevant facts and circumstances.

Who must file Form 8938?

  • Taxpayers living abroad. You must file a Form 8938 if:
    You are unmarried and the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $200,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $300,000 at any time during the year. 

    You are married filing a joint income tax return and the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $600,000 at any time during the year.  
     

  • Taxpayers living in the United States. You must file Form 8938 if:
    You are unmarried and the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $75,000 at any time during the tax year. 

    You are married filing a joint income tax return and the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $100,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $150,000 at any time during the tax year. 
     

Specified Foreign Financial Assets 

Specified foreign financial assets include:

  1. A financial account maintained by a foreign financial institution,

  2. Any stock or security held for investment that is issued by a foreign person,

  3. Any financial instrument or contract held for investment that has a foreign counterparty, and

  4. An interest in any foreign entity when such interest is held for investment.

For more information on FATCA requirements check:
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/basic-questions-and-answers-on-form-8938

Worried that you may not be in compliance with all United States Treasury rules and regulations? We would be happy to review your foreign tax situation, and quickly answer any questions you may have.