What is FBAR (FinCEN 114)?
The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or FBAR, refers to an annual report that discloses to the U.S. Department of Treasury the highest balance in each bank account that a U.S. person has signing authority on during any point in the year.
There is no comparable report in Canada.
On this page
FBAR Reporting Requirements
U.S. persons are required to report all foreign bank and financial accounts, including joint accounts, if the aggregate value of all accounts exceeds U.S. $10,000.
This only applies to accounts outside of the United States
This amount is the total for all accounts at any point in the year, not by individual account
FBAR reports must be filed by April 15th each year
You have the option of filing an extension, and are filed separately from your 1040
Reports must be e-filed as the U.S. Department of the Treasury is no longer accepting paper-filed reports
If an account is held jointly between a U.S. citizen and a non-U.S. citizen, the FBAR requires that the 100% balance is reported (balances are not supposed to be divided in half)
Example Scenario: Consider Joe
- Joe has a joint chequing account with his partner, and it had $8,000 in June. That was the largest balance in this account during the calendar year.
- Joe has a savings account and it had $3,000 in December. That was the largest balance in the account during the calendar year.
- Joe has a bank account with a U.S. Bank in Seattle and it had $12,000 U.S. at its peak in the year.
- Joe has an RRSP with $3,000 at the end of the year. Earlier in the year in March, he withdrew $4,000.
Does Joe Trigger the FBAR Reporting Requirement?
Yes, he does.
When you total the single largest balances in the year ($8,000 + $3,000 + ($3,000 + $4,000) = $18,000) it is greater than $10,000. You will note that we did not include the U.S. bank account as it is not a foreign bank account for U.S. reporting purposes.
Other Common FBAR Questions
What Accounts Do You Include?
Bank accounts, such as GIC’s, money market funds, chequing or savings
Investment accounts, both registered and non-registered
Commodity or investment accounts
Insurance policies with a cash surrender value
RRSP and RRIF accounts
Tax-free savings accounts
What to Complete on the FBAR Form
The default rule is that each person files a separate report regardless of married or not. If married, spouses may elect to file a joint return so long as all accounts are jointly held.
Part I relates to filer information.
Part II applies to Accounts Owned Separately.
Part III applies to Accounts Owned Jointly.
Parts IV and V do not commonly apply, but would require reporting if they did apply.
Disclosure of this information is mandatory. Failure to file these reports could result in significant financial penalties ($10,000 or more).
All amounts must be reported in U.S. dollars. You can obtain exchange rates at from the IRS website.
To assist our clients, please visit our forms section to download a FinCEN-114 (FBAR) Worksheet that will help you gather the necessary information.