Free tool guide
FBAR and foreign asset reporting
Foreign accounts and assets can create several separate U.S. reporting questions. The FBAR focuses on foreign financial accounts and uses a more than $10,000 aggregate threshold. Form 8938 covers specified foreign financial assets and uses different thresholds. Pensions, trusts, pooled funds and foreign entities can add other forms. Use this guide to choose the narrowest check for the facts you already know.
Start with these checks
Do I need to file an FBAR?
Add the annual maximum value of your foreign accounts and check whether their combined value crossed the FBAR threshold. Free, private and source-linked.
Do I need to file Form 8938?
Compare your filing status, residence and foreign asset values with the Form 8938 thresholds. Free, private and separate from the FBAR.
Do I need an FBAR, Form 8938, or both?
Compare FBAR and Form 8938 separately to see whether your answers point to one filing, both or neither, with official sources shown.
Which foreign accounts may go on an FBAR?
Sort common foreign accounts from items that are generally outside the FBAR account list.
Foreign-account maximum balance worksheet
Add annual account maxima, adjust duplicated transfers, and preserve the FBAR threshold calculation.
Could my foreign investment be a PFIC?
Check the foreign-issuer, passive-income, and passive-asset facts that trigger a Form 8621 review.
More tools in this topic
- FBAR currency converter: Convert an account maximum with the correct rate direction and FBAR rounding rule.
- Which foreign assets may need reporting?: Sort common holdings into Form 8938, FBAR, and separate international-form review paths.
- Do I need to report a foreign pension?: See which income, account, asset, treaty, and trust-reporting questions need separate answers.
- Do I need to report a foreign trust, gift or inheritance?: Separate trust events from foreign gifts and apply the supported 2025 reporting screens.
- Do I need to report a foreign company or partnership?: Review the ownership, control, change, branch, and transfer facts behind four common international forms.
- What U.S. reporting should I check for foreign crypto?: Separate taxable activity, records, foreign-custodian accounts, FBAR, and Form 8938 questions.
How to use this guide
Each tool gives a complete first-pass result from the facts you enter and keeps its official sources and review date visible. It is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check unusual facts with a qualified professional.
Guide updated .