audio

Not what FinCEN told me.
I transferred 10k from a saving account to checking which was immediately wired out for a bill payment, the amount shown for the FBAR was including this 10k on both accounts but the actual balance was 10k less if that makes sense. Madness! FBAR wants the highest amounts shown (not balance) even if only for a nanosecond

MidAtlantic

Yes, that is what I was saying and meant.(ie the highest amount in your account at any point)

mrken30

Thanks, I was going by the US legal definition.

"Financial interest" means an interest that could result in directly or indirectly receiving a pecuniary gain or sustaining a pecuniary loss as a result of ownership or interest in a business entity, or as a result of salary, gratuity, or other compensation or remuneration from any person.

I was looking at DB similar to a US deferred salary scheme

MidAtlantic

Mine is a quote from the FBAR instructions, can't get much more US than that!

mrken30

looking at the instructions, you can use periodic balances to work out the maximum balance.

"The maximum value of an account is a reasonable approximation of the greatest value of currency or nonmonetary
assets in the account during the calendar year. Periodic account statements may be relied upon to determine the
maximum value of the account, provided that the statements fairly reflect the maximum account value during the
calendar year"

mrken30

I live in a community property State, should I have filed a form 114a ? the accounts are all in my name.

IRA Owners and Beneficiaries. An owner or beneficiary of an IRA is not required to report a foreign
financial account held in the IRA.
Participants in and Beneficiaries of Tax-Qualified Retirement Plans. A participant in or beneficiary of a
retirement plan described in Internal Revenue Code § 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) is not required to report a
foreign financial account held by or on behalf of the retirement plan.

I don't understand why 403(b)s are exempt but not 401(k)s.
.
Do UK pension accounts fall under either of these two option yet? I assume they are more like 401(k)s than 403(b)s

audio

No you were saying the highest balance

MidAtlantic

Whatever.. I comment on the basis of wanting to help not argue


What is an 'Account Balance'
An account balance is the amount of money in a financial repository, such as a checking account, at any given moment.

lansbury

The highest balance per individual account. Not the combined balance if you have multiple bank accounts as an example. So balance and amount are the same thing.

Owen778

401ks are themselves. 403bs are themselves. No foreign retirement investment "counts" as either, if for no other reason that the 401k etc. is a US-based wrapper that might hold foreign account funds, whereas the UK-based pension accounts are based in the UK.

durham_lad

FWIW here is what I have been doing for the last 30 years for FBAR

1. I don't report DB pensions
2. I make a note of the highest balance of each account from the monthly or quarterly statements. (If a balance has gone higher during the day then I don't know about it, just the daily line item on the statement is all I record)
3. If the sum of all the highest balances during the year on each account is >$10k then I'm going to file an FBAR
4. When filing an FBAR I report every single account no matter how little the highest balance was.