To file FinCEN Form 114, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly called the FBAR), submit it electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System by April 15 of the year after the calendar year you’re reporting. An automatic extension to October 15 applies if you miss April 15, and you don’t have to request it.1FinCEN. Due Date for FBARs The form is separate from your federal tax return and goes to FinCEN, not the IRS.2Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
Do You Actually Have to File
The FBAR applies to every “United States person” who had a financial interest in, or signature authority over, one or more accounts at a foreign financial institution when the combined value of those accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year.2Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) U.S. person covers citizens, resident aliens, trusts, estates, and domestic entities such as corporations, partnerships, and LLCs.3Internal Revenue Service. Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR Requirements
The $10,000 is an aggregate, not a per-account limit. Two accounts that each peak at $6,000 trigger the requirement even though neither alone crosses the threshold. Reportable accounts include bank accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, and certain insurance or retirement accounts with cash value.
Some foreign accounts are excluded from the count entirely: correspondent or nostro accounts used for interbank transactions, accounts owned by a government entity or international financial institution, accounts on a U.S. military banking facility, IRAs you own or are a beneficiary of, retirement plan accounts where you’re a participant or beneficiary, and trust accounts where you’re a beneficiary as long as a connected U.S. person files the FBAR for those accounts.2Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) The IRA and retirement plan exclusions catch people off guard, since a qualifying foreign retirement balance does not count toward the $10,000 threshold.
What to Gather Before You Open the Portal
The e-filing session can time out during data entry. Pull everything together first.
You’ll need your full legal name, Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number, and current mailing address. These should match your federal tax records exactly; mismatches can flag the filing for review.
For each foreign account, collect:
- The financial institution’s name and address
- The account number
- The type of account (bank, securities, or other)
- The maximum value the account reached at any point during the calendar year
Finding the peak balance usually means reviewing monthly or quarterly statements and picking out the single highest figure. For accounts held in a foreign currency, convert that peak using the Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange as of the last day of the calendar year you’re reporting; for the 2025 reporting year, that’s the rates published as of December 31, 2025.4U.S. Department of the Treasury – Fiscal Data. Rates of Exchange Annual averages or spot rates from a different date are not acceptable.
Filing Through the BSA E-Filing System
FBARs are filed exclusively through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System, which runs in any modern web browser. Individuals do not need to create an account or install software to file.5FinCEN. BSA Direct E-Filing Fact Sheet The form is broken into sections that correspond to the type of relationship you have with each account.
Filer Information
The first section captures your personal details. Enter your name, address, and identifying number as they appear on your tax records.
Individually Owned Accounts
Each account you own by yourself gets its own entry: institution name and address, account number, account type, and maximum U.S. dollar value during the year. Five accounts means five entries.
Jointly Owned Accounts and Signature Authority
Joint accounts require the identifying information of the other account holder along with the financial details. If you have signature authority over an account but no ownership stake, use the appropriate indicator to flag that. The form treats financial interest and signature authority as separate reporting categories, and the distinction matters.
Some less obvious holdings belong on the form too, including foreign life insurance policies with a cash surrender value. When you’re unsure whether a particular account qualifies, the controlling definition sits in 31 CFR 1010.350.
Signing and Submitting
Review every field before you sign. Corrections after submission require filing an entirely new amended FBAR, so it pays to catch errors now. When you’re satisfied, click the signature button to apply a digital signature affirming the accuracy of your report, then submit.5FinCEN. BSA Direct E-Filing Fact Sheet
Keep Your Proof of Filing
After a successful submission, a confirmation screen appears and an automated email arrives with a BSA Identifier. That identifier is your permanent proof of filing, and you’ll need it if you ever have to amend the report.6FinCEN. Filing the FBAR Using the Online Form Download and save a copy of the completed form right away. The BSA E-Filing System does not store submissions for you.
Federal regulations require you to keep FBAR records for five years from the filing due date.7eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.430 – Nature of Records and Retention Period That includes the filed form, the BSA Identifier confirmation, and the underlying account statements you used to determine maximum values.
The April 15 Deadline and the Automatic Extension
The FBAR for a given calendar year is due April 15 of the following year. Miss that date and you automatically get an extension to October 15 without filing any additional paperwork.1FinCEN. Due Date for FBARs This is not the same as a tax return extension, which requires Form 4868. The two obligations run in parallel: a tax extension does not extend your FBAR, and an FBAR does not extend your tax return.
If You Missed a Prior Year
Two voluntary correction paths exist, and both close the moment the IRS contacts you.
If you missed filing FBARs for prior years but properly reported all the income from those foreign accounts on your tax returns, the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures let you file the late reports without penalty. You must not be under civil examination or criminal investigation, and the IRS must not have already contacted you about the missing FBARs. When those conditions are met and the related income was properly reported and taxed, the IRS generally will not impose a penalty.8Internal Revenue Service. Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures
If you also owe additional tax on unreported foreign income, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures may be the right path. They’re open to taxpayers who can certify the failure was non-willful, meaning it resulted from negligence, inadvertence, mistake, or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law. You’re ineligible if the IRS has already opened a civil examination of any of your returns or if you’re under criminal investigation. The program has separate versions for people living in the U.S. and abroad, with different penalty terms.9Internal Revenue Service. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures
To amend a previously filed FBAR, submit a fresh form through the BSA E-Filing System and reference the BSA Identifier from the original submission to link them.6FinCEN. Filing the FBAR Using the Online Form The read-only copy you saved after your first filing cannot be reused; you’ll complete a new form.
What’s at Stake If You Skip It
FBAR penalties apply per account per year and sort into tiers by intent. A non-willful violation now carries a maximum civil penalty of $16,536 per violation after the latest inflation adjustment, up from the statutory base of $10,000.10Federal Register. Inflation Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalties11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5321 – Civil Penalties A reasonable cause exception can waive the penalty entirely if you can show the violation resulted from reasonable cause and you properly reported the account balance.
A willful violation raises the maximum to the greater of $165,353 (inflation-adjusted) or 50 percent of the account balance at the time of the violation.10Federal Register. Inflation Adjustment of Civil Monetary Penalties When violations span multiple years, the IRS can stack penalties, though its internal policy generally caps the total at 50 percent of the highest aggregate balance across the years under examination.
The size of those numbers is why acting early, even on an oversight that feels embarrassing to admit, almost always produces a better outcome than waiting for a notice.