One of the primary issues with US expat taxes is knowing the additional reporting requirements from the IRS or the Treasury Department. The IRS recently announced updated guidelines for reporting assets overseas on US expat taxes, using Form 8938. Form 8938 has updated thresholds for expats and what other reporting requirements still exist for Americans with financial accounts or assets overseas.
US Expat Taxes – Form 8938
Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) is to be filed with your US expat taxes by expats with certain types of financial assets or foreign bank accounts if they are above the applicable threshold. The thresholds vary on filing status.
“Form 8938 is required when the total value of specified foreign assets exceeds certain thresholds. For example, a married couple living in the U.S. and filing a joint tax return would not file Form 8938 unless their total specified foreign assets exceed $100,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $150,000 at any time during the tax year.”
For a single taxpayer, the threshold is $50,000.
These thresholds are higher for those dual citizens or expats who have established residency in a foreign country. For example, if the same married couple mentioned above were Canadian citizens, they would not file Form 8938 unless their assets valued more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year or, at any given moment, they had more than $600,000 in financial assets overseas.
Note that Form 8938 does not replace the requirements of the FBAR (Form TD-F 90-22.1) which is filed with the US Department of the Treasury. Form 8938 is submitted to the IRS with your US expat taxes; it is a separate reporting requirement. If you are required to file Form 8938, you are also going to need to file the FBAR with US Department of the Treasury (if your assets are in financial accounts). That being said, just because you file the FBAR does not mean you need to send Form 8938 with your US expat taxes.
Form 8938 Penalties
Like most reporting requirements from the IRS or US Department of the Traesury,, there are penalties for failing to file Form 8938. Like many penalties from the IRS or the US Department of the Treasury, they are judged on a case-by-case basis and may or may not be enforced to the highest degree.
“Failing to file Form 8938 when required could result in a $10,000 penalty, with an additional penalty up to $50,000 for continued failure to file after IRS notification. A 40 percent penalty on any understatement of tax attributable to non-disclosed assets can also be imposed. Special statute of limitation rules apply to Form 8938, which are also explained in the instructions.”
The filing requirements are relatively straightforward, and are outlined by the IRS in the Form 8938 instructions. The instructions also define what assets are specified foreign financial assets and need to be included in your report. They also outline how to send the form with your US expat taxes.
Like all tax issues, failure to comply or mistakes in reporting can be both time consuming and costly, especially with the penalties that are currently in place. Keep in mind that even if you file Form 8938, you will still be required to file your FBAR Form TD-F 90-22.1 with the US Department of the Treasury.
If you have any questions about your US expat taxes or the filing requirements, please do not hesitate to contact our expat CPA team.
More Information about Form 8938
- Read the IRS Press Release on Form 8938
- Read more about US expat taxes requirements
- Contact our expat tax experts for help with your US expat taxes
