Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets (Form 8938) U.S. Taxpayers Holding Foreign Financial Assets May Also Need to File Form 8938 in addition to FBAR. This is commonly known as compliance as per FATCA. Taxpayers with specified foreign financial assets that exceed certain thresholds must report those assets to the IRS on Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, which is filed with an income tax return. The new Form 8938 filing requirement is in addition to the FBAR filing requirement. Who Must File You must file Form 8938 if: 1. You are a specified individual. A specified individual is: A U.S. citizen A resident alien of the United States for any part of the tax year (see IRS Pub. 519 for more information) A nonresident alien who makes an election to be treated as resident alien for purposes of filing a joint income tax return A nonresident alien who is a bona fide resident of American Samoa or Puerto Rico (See IRS Pub. 570 for definition of a bona fide resident) AND 2. You have an interest in specified foreign financial assets required to be reported. A specified foreign financial asset is: Any financial account maintained by a foreign financial institution, except as indicated below Other foreign financial assets held for investment that are not in an account maintained by a US or foreign financial institution, namely: Stock or securities issued by someone other than a U.S. person Any interest in a foreign entity, and Any financial instrument or contract that has as an issuer or counterparty that is other than a U.S. person. AND 3. The aggregate value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than the reporting thresholds that applies to you: Unmarried taxpayers living in the US: 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 Married taxpayers filing a joint income tax return and living in the US: 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 Married taxpayers filing separate income tax returns and living in the US: 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. Taxpayers living abroad. You are a taxpayer living abroad if: You are a U.S. citizen whose tax home is in a foreign country and you are either a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes the entire tax year, or You are a US citizen or resident, who during a period of 12 consecutive months ending in the tax year is physically present in a foreign country or countries at least 330 days. If you are a taxpayer living abroad you must file if: You are filing a return other than a joint return and the total value of your specified foreign 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; or You are filing a joint return and the value of your specified foreign asset is more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $600,000 at any time during the year. If you are required to file Form 8938, you do not have to report financial accounts maintained by: a U.S. payer (such as a U.S. domestic financial institution), the foreign branch of a U.S. financial institution, or the U.S. branch of a foreign financial institution. If you do not have to file an income tax return for the tax year, you do not have to file Form 8938, even if the value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than the appropriate reporting threshold. If you are required to file a Form 8938 and you have a specified foreign financial asset reported on Form 3520, Form 3520-A, Form 5471, Form 8621, Form 8865, or Form 8891, you do not need to report the asset on Form 8938. However, you must identify on Part IV of your Form 8938 which and how many of these form(s) report the specified foreign financial assets. Even if a specified foreign financial asset is reported on a form listed above, you must still include the value of the asset in determining whether the aggregate value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than the reporting threshold that applies to you. Special rules for resident aliens. You are a resident alien if you are treated as a resident alien for U.S. tax purposes under the green card test or the substantial presence test. If you qualify as a resident alien under either rule, you are a specified individual even if you elect to be taxed as a resident of a foreign country under the provisions of a U.S. income tax treaty. Specified Domestic Entity The IRS anticipates issuing regulations that will require a domestic entity to file Form 8938 if the entity is formed or availed of to hold specified foreign financial assets and the value of those assets exceeds the appropriate reporting threshold. Until the IRS issues such regulations, only individuals must file Form 8938.