What is Form 8938?

Form 8938 is used to report specified foreign financial assets if the total value of all foreign financial assets is more than the reporting threshold:

Specified individuals living in the U.S. include:

·         Unmarried individual (or married filing separately): Total value of assets was more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $75,000 at any time during the year.

·         Married individual filing jointly: Total value of assets was more than $100,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $150,000 at any time during the year.

Specified individuals living outside the U.S.:

·         Unmarried individual (or married filing separately): Total value of assets was more than $200,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $300,000 at any time during the year.

·         Married individual filing jointly: Total value of assets was more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $600,000 at any time during the year

Required taxpayers who fail to file Form 8938 by the due date may be subject to a $10,000 penalty. In addition, if you are notified of the failure by the IRS and continue not to file Form 8938, you may be subject to an additional $10,000 penalty for each 30-day period the form is not filed, limited to $50,000. Further, if an underpayment of tax is involved with an undisclosed specified foreign financial asset, you may be subject to a penalty equal to 40 percent of the underpayment.