Do I have to file an FBAR if none of the money is mine?
Yes, if you have signature authority over the account. The test is control rather than ownership: a treasurer who can move an employer's funds, or an adult child added to a parent's account for convenience, is inside the rule even though not a penny of the balance belongs to them. Accounts you only have authority over count towards your aggregate as well, so an account you would never think of as yours can be the one that takes you over the line. The practical step is to list every account you can sign on, not just the ones you own.
Does each account have to be over the limit, or all of them together?
All of them together. The test is aggregate, not per account: ten modest balances that add up across the year are reportable even though not one of them would be on its own. The figure is an aggregate of US$10,000, verified in August 2026 against the IRS guidance comparing this report with Form 8938, and it is tested at the highest point each account reached during the calendar year rather than at the year end. Once the aggregate crosses, every foreign account is reported, including the small ones and the ones you only have authority over.
Do I file FinCEN Form 114 if I closed the account during the year?
Closing an account does not take it out of the report. The test looks at the highest value the account reached at any point in the calendar year, so an account that was emptied and shut in the spring still counts towards the aggregate and still appears on the report if the aggregate crosses. This catches people who moved money home and assume the year is clean. It also means the bank statements you need are for an account you no longer hold, which is worth requesting early rather than at filing time.
Does my company have to file an FBAR or just me?
Both can be in scope. The rule reaches US persons of every kind, including corporations, partnerships, trusts and estates, so an entity with foreign accounts has its own obligation decided on its own aggregate. Separately, an officer or employee with signature authority over those same accounts can have a personal obligation for them. One set of bank accounts therefore produces more than one report, and the entity filing does not discharge the individual's. Work out the entity's position and each signatory's position as two separate exercises.
Do I still file the FBAR if I reported the accounts on Form 8938?
Yes. They are two reports with two destinations and two sets of rules, and the overlap between them is not a substitute. FinCEN Form 114 goes electronically to the Treasury's financial-crimes bureau; the other belongs with the income tax return. Accounts can appear on both, some assets appear on only one, and meeting one test says nothing about the other. The IRS publishes a side-by-side comparison of the two requirements for exactly this reason. Treat them as separate checklists built from the same underlying list of accounts.
Is FinCEN Form 114 part of my US tax return?
No. It is filed electronically with the Treasury's financial-crimes bureau rather than attached to a return, which has two consequences. Filing the return does not discharge the report, and a year in which no tax is owing is not a year in which nothing is due, because the obligation is decided by the facts about the accounts rather than by the tax result. People who have always filed their returns on time are the commonest group to discover a run of missing reports, since nothing in the return process asks for them.
What does "received a distribution from a foreign trust" mean on my return?
It is asking whether the trust conferred anything on you during the year — cash, property, or the use of trust property, including rent-free occupation of a house and, in some circumstances, a loan. Answering yes brings an information return, and where the distribution includes income accumulated in earlier years the tax computation can carry an interest charge for the delay. Trust accounts showing the composition of the distribution are what keep that computation from defaulting against you. See Form 3520.
Do dual citizens have to file US taxes if they live abroad?
Yes. US filing follows citizenship, not residence or where the income arose, and the obligation continues for as long as the citizenship does. Two further obligations travel with it and are keyed to account balances rather than income, so they can apply in a year with no US tax at all: the foreign bank account report to FinCEN, and the specified foreign asset statement with the return. Most people who discover a problem discover it there. See two returns as a dual citizen.
