Budget-friendly Form 8938 — statement of foreign assets

Form 8938 — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. United States (IRS). Budget-friendly Form 8938 with a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. Call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written quote today.

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In 60 words

Form 8938 is an information return: The FATCA statement of specified foreign financial assets — accounts, foreign-issued securities, interests in foreign entities and certain foreign contracts. US filers whose specified foreign financial assets exceed the reporting threshold for their filing status and whether they live in the US or abroad.

Who has to deal with this

US filers whose specified foreign financial assets exceed the reporting threshold for their filing status and whether they live in the US or abroad.

Here is the part that decides your answer. It is not a duplicate of the FBAR. Form 8938 attaches to the tax return, covers assets an account report does not reach, and has thresholds that move with filing status and residence — which is why most cross-border filers file both, with different asset lists on each.

Two of the firm’s advisers at a desk in the Delhi office

Transparent, fixed pricing for form 8938

The statement of specified foreign financial assets is priced by the length and variety of the asset list. A couple of ordinary bank accounts is quick; foreign pensions, holdings in private companies, unit trusts and insurance contracts each need their maximum value established and converted for the year, which is where the time goes. The fee is agreed in writing beforehand.

FBAR & Form 8938 disclosure — fixed-fee price

From $449

fixed, quoted before work starts

Both US foreign-asset reports prepared from one account and asset list, with the different contents each of them requires, and reconciled to the return they accompany.
See the full fee page

Streamlined catch-up — 3 years + 6 FBARs — fixed-fee price

From $449

fixed, quoted before work starts

The full streamlined submission: the back returns, the account reports for the whole period, and the non-willfulness certification that is the substance of the application.
See the full fee page

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The reporting obligations that attach to owning something abroad, worked out from your holdings rather than from the tax return alone.
See the fee schedule

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

For a filing history that stopped — the penalty position assessed first, then the years filed in the order that protects it.
See the fee schedule

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

A personal filing built from your own documents — employment, investment and rental income across borders, with the treaty position set out.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Non-resident filings and the two part-year returns a move produces, sequenced so neither country taxes the same income twice.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Corporate compliance for a group that trades or holds assets in more than one country, prepared on both sides together.
See the fee schedule

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

The employer side of mobility — where to register, what to withhold, and what to report once someone works across a border.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — every engagement, one list, no ranges hiding surprises.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether Form 8938 applies
What the test looks atWhere the figure comes from
The obligationThe FATCA statement of specified foreign financial assets — accounts, foreign-issued securities, interests in foreign entities and certain foreign contracts.
Who it bindsUS filers whose specified foreign financial assets exceed the reporting threshold for their filing status and whether they live in the US or abroad.
Jurisdiction and authorityUnited States — IRS
Category of filingInformation return

Verified thresholds — Form 8938

Verified Form 8938 thresholds
FilerMore than, last day of yearMore than, at any time in the year
Living in the US — unmarried$50,000$75,000
Living in the US — married filing jointly$100,000$150,000
Living in the US — married filing separately$50,000$75,000
Living abroad — not a joint return$200,000$300,000
Living abroad — joint return$400,000$600,000

Verified against the IRS on 2026-08-13: irs.gov — do I need to file Form 8938. Living abroad for this purpose: Physically present in a foreign country or countries at least 330 days during a period of 12 consecutive months ending in the tax year.

When it is due

Information returns are generally due with — or on the same timetable as — the return they accompany, so the deadline is the filing deadline of the underlying return unless the rules set a separate date. Where an extension covers the return, confirm whether it also covers this form; several information returns keep their own date. Where an extension is available we tell you what it does and does not cover, because the two are frequently confused.

What late or missed filing costs

The penalty on an information return is charged per form and per year, and it does not depend on tax being owed. That is the whole risk profile: a filer with no tax to pay can still accumulate a substantial liability across unfiled years, and the exposure compounds with each additional entity or account that should have been reported. The practical response is not speed but order: mapping every affected year before contacting an authority is what keeps relief on the table.

The numbers, end to end

It is easier to see with numbers attached.

Why three small accounts are reportable

Three ordinary foreign accounts, none of which looks like a reporting problem on its own. The account report is tested on the aggregate of all foreign financial accounts at their highest point in the calendar year.

Why three small accounts are reportable
ItemAmount
Current account, highest balanceUS$3,000
Savings account, highest balanceUS$2,000
Account held with a relative, signature authority onlyUS$5,000
Aggregate tested against the thresholdUS$10,000
Reporting threshold (verified, FinCEN)US$10,000

On these balances the aggregate stays below the threshold, so no report is due for the year — but the test is the highest balance at any point in the year, not the year-end balance, so a single transfer through an account can change the answer. Change any one of those inputs and the answer moves, which is why we run it on your own figures rather than on an illustration.

Illustrative figures, not a client engagement: the amounts are chosen to make the mechanism legible, and the rates and thresholds are assumptions stated for the example only. We confirm every one of them against the issuing authority for your own tax year before anything is filed.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

We quote Form 8938 before we start, as part of the return set it belongs to rather than as a line item you discover afterwards. If the work turns out to be smaller than the quote, the quote is what you pay; if it turns out to be larger, we re-quote before continuing. See the filing 10 years of missed returns for comparable engagements.

How the engagement runs

  1. 1Establish whether the reporting test is met, on the correct measure
  2. 2Assemble the holdings, accounts or entities that fall inside it
  3. 3Prepare the return and reconcile it to the tax return it travels with
  4. 4File, and set the calendar entry so next year is not a catch-up
  • A named reviewer signs off every statutory filing.
  • Authorisation with each authority, so we see the assessments and slips directly rather than asking you for them.
  • Every statutory figure in your file is verified for your own year at source.

The quote comes before the work, in writing.

Checked and signed off for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. Published as general information. For a position on your own file, call the 24-hour helpline.

How to file form 8938, in practice

Readers arrive here searching for how to file form 8938, and Form 8938 is what the page is about. Below: who it catches, what has to be filed, and what it costs — quoted in writing, before anything is done.

People also search for: form 8938 threshold · when to file form 8938 · statement of specified foreign financial assets · form 8938 when to file · foreign asset form.

It is not a duplicate of the FBAR.

The four phases of the work

  1. Upload the file as it stands

    A secure link arrives after the first call. Incomplete is fine; that is what the review is for.

  2. The number is settled up front

    Priced from your own documents and confirmed in writing before any preparation begins.

  3. Both returns on one desk

    One engagement covers every country the file touches, reconciled line against line.

  4. Your approval, then the filing

    The return is yours to check first. We file once you say so.

The difference a dedicated cross-border team makes

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

Key terms behind this page, defined

Arm's length principle
The standard that a controlled transaction should be priced as it would have been between independent enterprises in comparable circumstances.
Tax residency certificate
The certificate from a treaty partner's authority that India requires before granting treaty relief, for the right period and in the right name.
Dual citizenship
Holding two nationalities. It changes nothing for a residence-based system and everything for a citizenship-based one, which is why one passport can create a lifelong filing obligation.
Contemporaneous documentation
Transfer-pricing records prepared by the filing deadline rather than after a query. Prepared later, they no longer satisfy the penalty-protection condition.
form 8938: The practitioner's note

It is not a duplicate of the FBAR.

Complexity changes the work, not the deal: the written fee and scope come first, a named practitioner signs off, and the filing follows your approval of the delivered file.

Form 8938 — what the published fees look like

A different question is what state the returns are in. Attaching the statement to a current return is one job; adding it to years already filed means amending each of them, and where residence changed partway the reporting position has to be settled before the foreign asset list is drawn up at all.

Catch-up & voluntary disclosure

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: Late and unfiled years, sequenced and filed together, with the relief available for the delay identified before the first return goes in.

See this fee page

Individual tax filing

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: A personal filing built from your own documents — employment, investment and rental income across borders, with the treaty position set out.

See this fee page

Why clients bring form 8938 to us

A named reviewer on every file

Every page on this site and every file we deliver says which practitioner reviewed it — a person, not a team inbox.

The reporting penalties get named early

The heaviest exposure on a cross-border file is usually a disclosure form, not the tax. We identify which ones apply before a deadline turns into a penalty.

One team, not two firms billing separately

You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers with two sets of assumptions. One engagement covers each country the file touches.

Residence is tested, not assumed

Where you are resident for treaty purposes is a question with a method. We work through it and write down the answer, with the facts it rests on.

The team reviewing a file together at a desk

From first call to filed return

Step 1

Initial call

A call to our 24-hour helpline to establish the facts and the dates that matter

Step 2

Scope and fee

A written scope and a fixed fee before any work starts

Step 3

Preparation and review

Preparation, then a named reviewer's sign-off before anything is filed

Step 4

Filing and payment

Filing, then payment — after you have seen and approved the result

Two of the firm’s advisers and the team in the open-plan office

From first document to filed return

  • Step 1: Documents first, questions second – We read the file before asking anything, so the questions we do ask are the ones that matter.
  • Step 2: A quote you can hold us to – Fixed in writing against a defined scope. No hourly meter, and no revision after the fact.
  • Step 3: The order of filing decided deliberately – Which return goes first can decide whether relief is available at all. That is planned, not discovered.
  • Step 4: Nothing filed without your sign-off – You see the completed work, ask what you need to, and approve it before submission.

Quoted up front, in writing.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068

The rest of this practice

Every link below is a full page of its own — the same depth as this one, for its own subject.

Core services for this situation

Form 8288-B — withholding certificate Everything on form 8288-b withholding certificate, at the same depth as this page.
Form ITR-3 — business or professional income (India) ITR-3 India — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Crypto held on foreign exchanges The full guide to crypto held on foreign exchanges, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Annual compliance calendar design Its own page: annual compliance calendar design — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Crypto and the FBAR question Everything on crypto and the FBAR question, at the same depth as this page.
IP holding & substance Ip holding & substance — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Form NR7-R — refund of Part XIII tax The full guide to nr7-r refund of part xiii tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
First-year proration schedule — Canada Its own page: first year proration schedule Canada — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Appeal to CIT(A) — Form 35 Everything on appeal to cit(a) form 35, at the same depth as this page.

Who we bring this work to

Importers & exporters cross-border tax Everything on importers & exporters cross border tax, at the same depth as this page.
Team-sport athletes — relief you're probably missing Team-sport athletes relief you're probably missing — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Construction & contracting cross-border tax The full guide to construction & contracting cross border tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for travel nurses (us contracts) Its own page: travel nurses (US contracts) tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for software developers Everything on software developers tax, at the same depth as this page.
Technology & SaaS — your filing calendar Technology & saas your filing calendar — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Technology & SaaS — relief you're probably missing The full guide to technology & saas relief you're probably missing, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tax for data scientists & ai engineers Its own page: data scientists & ai engineers tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Seafarers & mariners — your filing calendar Everything on seafarers & mariners your filing calendar, at the same depth as this page.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

New Zealand tax for expats — country guide Everything on New Zealand tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Slovenia tax for expats — country guide Slovenia tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Hungary tax for expats — country guide The full guide to hungary tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Sweden tax for expats — country guide Its own page: Sweden tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Canada–India tax corridor Everything on Canada India tax, at the same depth as this page.
Ghana tax for expats — country guide Ghana tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Portugal tax for expats — country guide The full guide to Portugal tax for expats, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Tunisia tax for expats — country guide Its own page: tunisia tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Canada–Singapore tax corridor Everything on Canada Singapore tax, at the same depth as this page.

The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

Reviews and signs off the practice's cross-border positions, and carries final responsibility for the treaty analysis on every file that leaves the office.

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

Files that have to be right on both sides of the border at once — dual filings, streamlined catch-ups, and the foreign tax credit reconciliation between them.

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

Cross-border tax case studies

Case study 1

One Employee in a State Nobody Had Registered In

A single person working from home can create payroll registration, withholding and sometimes an income tax filing for the company in that state. The review measures activity against each state's own threshold.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

A Distribution From a Trust Set Up Abroad

A distribution can be capital in the trust's country and income here, and the reporting attaches to the beneficiary rather than the trustee. The work is characterising the payment before it is received where possible.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

A Foreign Affiliate Return Filed Years Late

The reporting obligation on a company held abroad runs separately from the corporate return and carries its own exposure. The work is reconstructing the surplus position across the open years before any filing goes in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

A Clean History Used to Remove a First Penalty

An administrative waiver can remove a first failure where the filing and payment record supports it, and it is spent once used. Whether to claim it now or keep it for a heavier year is a judgement made with the whole file in view.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

One Salary, Two Countries Claiming It

A US citizen resident in Canada, taxed in full on both sides because each return was prepared without the other in view. Deciding which country has the first right to the income, then claiming relief on the second return in the right order, is what stops the same dollar being taxed twice.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

Accounts Reported Late When the Income Already Was

Where the income was on the return and only the account report was missed, a narrow route allows late filing with a reason attached. It is open only while no income is unreported and no examination has begun, which is why it is checked first.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

US Estate Tax on Assets a Canadian Did Not Know Were Exposed

US shares and US real estate sit inside the US estate tax net regardless of where the owner lives. The treaty provides relief that is proportionate rather than automatic, and the calculation depends on the worldwide estate.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

A Home Kept in Canada After the Move Abroad

A dwelling left available is the tie the CRA weighs most heavily, and its treatment differs depending on whether it is rented at arm's length. The file settles the residence position first and the rental reporting second.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.

One coordinating team: filings on every side of the border are sequenced so treaty relief and foreign tax credits are claimed once — and in the right country.

U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns

Dual filers: U.S. citizens in Canada and Canadians with U.S. income run two parallel systems — we prepare both, in the right order, every year.

Expat & Emigration Tax

The move year is its own project: the elections and valuations filed that year decide the next decade of both countries’ returns.

Non-Resident Canadian Tax

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

Documentation prepared with the return is the cheapest insurance in international tax; reconstructing it during an audit is the most expensive.

Cross-Border Estates & Trusts

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Expansion raises the same four questions every time — entity, PE, repatriation, payroll. We answer them before the tax authorities do.

India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents

The deduction is taken on the sale price, not the gain — which is why an NRI property sale strands cash unless the certificate is applied for before closing.

Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element

Residency is decided on facts, not on a form — and the year you arrive or leave is the one where the largest amounts turn on the smallest details.

UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country

A zero-tax country is only half the answer — the question that decides the bill is whether the country you came from still treats you as resident.

Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
Technology & SaaS
Professional Services Firms
Cross-Border Real Estate
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
Investment Funds & Holding Companies

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces

  • Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
  • Marketplace withholding reviews
  • Inventory nexus & PE analysis
  • Multi-currency books reconciled
Explore E-commerce & Marketplaces

Technology & SaaS

  • Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
  • IP structuring with real substance
  • Equity for cross-border teams
  • U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Explore Technology & SaaS

Cross-Border Real Estate

Foreign property income and sales are taxed in both countries by default; Section 216, FIRPTA and treaty credits are the standing toolkit.

Property is taxed where it sits, which is the one rule no treaty overrides. What the treaty does decide is the credit, the rate on the rent and what happens on the sale — and the clearance certificate on a disposition is applied for before closing, not after the buyer has already held the money back.

  • Section 216 rental returns
  • FIRPTA withholding recovery
  • Section 116 clearance
  • Treaty credit optimization
Explore Real Estate

Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers

  • Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
  • Customs value vs transfer price
  • Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
  • Country-by-country reporting
Explore Trade & Manufacturing

Athletes, Artists & Entertainers

  • Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
  • Multi-state & country calendars
  • Touring income allocation
  • Royalty & image-rights withholding
Explore Athletes & Entertainers

Remote Workers & Digital Nomads

  • Residency analysis before moving
  • Employer payroll exposure
  • Totalization & social security
  • Foreign tax credits
Explore Remote Workers

Investment Funds & Holding Companies

  • Treaty access & PPT reviews
  • FAPI & surplus computations
  • Withholding-efficient routing
  • Governance & substance
Explore Funds & Holdcos

Form 8938 — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 8938 even if no tax is owed?

Information return obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. US filers whose specified foreign financial assets exceed the reporting threshold for their filing status and whether they live in the US or abroad.

What happens if I have missed Form 8938 for several years?

Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.

Is Form 8938 the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The FATCA statement of specified foreign financial assets — accounts, foreign-issued securities, interests in foreign entities and certain foreign contracts. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

What is a foreign trust for US tax purposes?

A trust that is not a domestic trust — broadly, one that fails the tests looking at whether a US court can exercise primary supervision and whether US persons control the substantial decisions. The classification decides everything downstream: whether the settlor is taxed on the income as owner, how distributions to US beneficiaries are taxed, and which annual information returns are due. Many ordinary foreign arrangements, including some pension and education savings vehicles, land inside the definition. See Form 3520-A.

How do I report a foreign pension on a US return?

As pension income, gross, with foreign tax available as a credit. Two extra layers catch people out. A treaty position on the pension may need to be taken and disclosed in its own right. And the plan itself can be a reportable foreign financial asset, sometimes with a further reporting regime if it is treated as a foreign trust — obligations keyed to holding the plan, not to drawing from it. Which layers apply depends on the country and the plan type. See the pensions and annuities article.

Who has to file an FBAR?

A US person whose foreign financial accounts, added together, exceed the reporting threshold at any point in the year — measured on the aggregate high balance, not on year-end value, and not on income. It captures accounts you merely have signature authority over, so business and family accounts are frequently missed. It is filed with FinCEN separately from the tax return, and its penalties are separate too. See FBAR — FinCEN 114.

Meet us in person at any of our offices

Form 8938, quoted before we start

We scope it on a call, quote it in writing, and you see the result before anything is filed.

  • 24-hour helpline, +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Fixed fees agreed before work starts
  • A named reviewer signs off every filing

Our practitioners are alumni of leading accounting and tax institutions

Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Request a Quote +1 (416) 619-0068