The FBAR deadline, explained.
Due 15 April. Automatically extended to 15 October. No form, no request — and no reason to panic in spring. Here's who files, what triggers it, and how to be done in twenty minutes.
Checked 12 September 2026 against FinCEN and IRS guidance · Informational only — not tax, legal, or immigration advice
The short version
Who has to file
You file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) if both of these are true:
- You're a US person — citizen, green-card holder, or US tax resident — wherever in the world you live; and
- The combined value of your non-US financial accounts topped $10,000 at any moment during the year.
Two details catch people out. The threshold is aggregate — three accounts holding $4,000 each cross it together, even though none does alone. And it's any moment — if a flat deposit passed through your EU account for one afternoon in March, that afternoon counts. Signature authority over someone else's account (an employer's, say) can also trigger a filing even when the money isn't yours.
Where it goes — and where it doesn't
The FBAR is not part of your tax return and doesn't go to the IRS. It's filed electronically with FinCEN's BSA e-filing system, separately from Form 1040. Filing your taxes doesn't file your FBAR, and vice versa.
The twenty-minute checklist
- List every non-US account you touched this year — bank, savings, brokerage, and many e-money accounts count.
- Find each account's highest balance during the year (annual statements usually show it).
- Convert to US dollars and add them up. Under $10,000 total all year? You're done — no filing.
- Over it? File Form 114 on the BSA e-filing site with each account's details and maximum value.
- Save the confirmation with your tax records.
Why the deadline matters
Non-wilful FBAR penalties can reach $16,536 per violation — and most people who miss the form simply never knew it existed. Now you do: put 15 October in your calendar and it's a non-event. The US deadline dashboard keeps it there for you, counted down.
Informational only — not tax, legal, or immigration advice. General rules as checked on the date above; deadlines can shift and individual circumstances differ. Verify against FinCEN.gov and IRS.gov, or ask a qualified professional, before acting.
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Keep going
- The US deadline dashboard — every date for Americans abroad, counted down.
- FEIE basics — the exclusion that gets most expats to $0 owed.
- All explainers — the Learn hub.