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Foreign Account Information
Enter details about your unreported foreign accounts
FBAR Requirement: File FinCEN Form 114 if aggregate foreign account balances exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year.
Account 1
Aggregate Balance:$0
FBAR filing may not have been required (under $10,000)
Frequently Asked Questions About FBAR Penalties
The FBAR (FinCEN 114) is a report filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network if you have a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts with an aggregate value exceeding $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. This includes bank accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, and certain insurance policies.
Non-willful violations carry a penalty of up to $16,117 per violation (2026, adjusted annually for inflation). Willful violations carry a penalty of up to $161,170 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation, whichever is greater. After the Bittner v. United States Supreme Court decision (2023), non-willful penalties are per-report, not per-account.
In Bittner v. United States (2023), the Supreme Court ruled that non-willful FBAR penalties are assessed per-report (one penalty per year), not per-account. This dramatically reduced penalties for taxpayers with multiple foreign accounts. Previously, having 5 accounts over 3 years could mean 15 penalties; now it means just 3.
Non-willful means you did not know about the filing requirement or made an honest mistake. Willful means you knew about the requirement and intentionally failed to comply. The IRS considers factors like: did you check "no" on Schedule B when you had foreign accounts, did you hide accounts, did you structure transactions to avoid reporting.
Options include: (1) Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (SFOP/SDOP) — for non-willful taxpayers, penalty is 5% of highest account value or zero for SFOP, (2) Voluntary Disclosure Practice — for willful taxpayers seeking reduced criminal exposure, (3) Delinquent FBAR submission — if you have reasonable cause, file late with an explanation.
No. FBAR (FinCEN 114) is filed separately with FinCEN (Treasury), while Form 8938 is filed with your tax return to the IRS. They have different thresholds: FBAR is $10,000 aggregate, while Form 8938 starts at $50,000 for domestic filers ($200,000 for overseas filers). Many taxpayers must file both, and penalties apply separately for each.