Overseas Accounts: Here's When the IRS Wants To Know

The Liberty Team
Jun 28
2 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

*Liberty Financial Solutions, LLC: We worry about the IRS so you don't have to...***

Overseas Accounts..

International Taxation Experts — CPA Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area

Overseas Accounts: Here's When The IRS Wants To Know

First off, what is an FBAR? Well, FBAR stands for Foreign Bank Account Report. The official form is FinCEN Form 114. It’s used to report a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts. It's something that our friends at the IRS take very seriously.

✅ Who Must File?

You must file an FBAR if:

You are a U.S. person — this includes U.S. citizens, U.S. residents, trusts, estates, and domestic entities (like corporations, partnerships, or LLCs) —AND
The aggregate value of all your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

Example: If you have three foreign accounts with balances of $4,000, $5,000, and $2,000 — their total is $11,000 → you must file.

💡 What Counts as a “Foreign Financial Account”?

Bank accounts (savings, checking)
Brokerage accounts
Mutual funds
Certain retirement accounts
Any other financial account located outside the United States

🗓️ When is it Due?

The FBAR is due April 15, but there’s an automatic extension to October 15 if you miss the April deadline.
It must be filed electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System — NOT with your tax return.

⚡ Penalties for Not Filing

FBAR penalties can be severe:

Non-willful violations: Up to $10,000 per violation.
Willful violations: The greater of $100,000 or 50% of the account balance per year.

If you suspect that you may need to file an FBAR, please reach out to us at Liberty Tax Defenders for your free consultation! We've helped numerous clients set up and stay on installment agreements. We've also saved our clients roughly $2 million in taxes the IRS said they owed.

Call us at 817-995-5008 or shoot us an email at: info@libertytaxdefenders.com.

We're here to help!

Cheers!

The Liberty Team

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