A FinCEN form is a financial report filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury that tracks money laundering and terrorism financing. The one most individuals encounter is the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114), required when foreign financial accounts together exceed $10,000 at any point in the year. Other FinCEN forms fall on businesses that handle large cash transactions, and a separate report covers the beneficial owners of certain foreign-formed companies operating in the United States. Penalties for skipping any of them run high, with civil fines reaching six figures and prison time on the table for willful violations.
The FBAR: The Form Most People Actually File
The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or FBAR, is filed by any U.S. person who has a financial interest in — or signing authority over — one or more foreign financial accounts when the combined value tops $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 1010 – General Provisions “U.S. person” is broader than it sounds: it covers citizens, residents, corporations, partnerships, LLCs, trusts, and estates.2Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
The threshold is aggregate, not per account. Three overseas accounts of $4,000 each, open on the same day, combine to $12,000 and trigger the filing. Covered accounts include bank accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, and other financial accounts at a foreign institution.
If you and your spouse jointly own every one of your foreign accounts, only one of you files. The non-filing spouse signs FinCEN Form 114a authorizing the other to report the joint accounts. Your tax filing status doesn’t affect this.2Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
Deadline and How to File
The FBAR is due April 15 of the year after the year you’re reporting. Miss it, and FinCEN automatically extends to October 15. No request, no extra form.3Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Due Date for FBARs For the 2025 calendar year, the date is April 15, 2026, falling back to October 15, 2026.
Filing is electronic, through the BSA E-Filing System, and it does not attach to your tax return.4Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. BSA E-Filing System The system collects your name, date of birth, Social Security or taxpayer identification number, and address, along with each account’s maximum value during the year, account number, and the name and address of the institution. You digitally sign and get a tracking number.
The FBAR Isn’t Form 8938
The FBAR and Form 8938 (the FATCA form) get mixed up constantly. They cover overlapping ground, but they are separate obligations filed with different agencies, and many taxpayers owe both.
- FBAR (Form 114) goes to FinCEN through the BSA E-Filing System. Threshold: $10,000 in combined foreign account balances at any point in the year. Scope: bank and financial accounts.
- Form 8938 goes to the IRS with your income tax return. For unmarried filers living in the U.S., the threshold is $50,000 on the last day of the year or $75,000 at any point during the year. Married joint filers get $100,000 and $150,000. Scope: a wider range of foreign financial assets.
Filers living outside the United States get much higher Form 8938 thresholds — $200,000 end-of-year or $300,000 at any point for single filers, and $400,000/$600,000 joint.5Internal Revenue Service. Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR Requirements The FBAR catches more people because its bar is far lower, but higher-asset taxpayers routinely file both.
Beneficial Ownership Reports: Who Still Files
The Corporate Transparency Act created a separate FinCEN filing for beneficial ownership information, but its scope was cut sharply in March 2025. Under an interim final rule, all domestic companies are exempt. If your entity was created in the United States, whether a corporation, LLC, or similar entity, you don’t file a Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR), and you don’t need to update or correct anything you may have filed before.6Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN Removes Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for US Companies and US Persons
The requirement now applies only to entities formed under the law of a foreign country that have registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction. Those foreign reporting companies file through the BOI E-Filing portal.7Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. BOI E-Filing Companies already registered in the U.S. before March 26, 2025, had 30 days from that date. Foreign companies registering on or after that date get 30 calendar days after notice that their registration is effective.8Federal Register. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension
The BOIR itself asks for the reporting company’s legal name, trade names, principal business address, and taxpayer identification number. Each beneficial owner supplies full legal name, date of birth, and an identifying number from a current passport or driver’s license along with an image of the document. An individual listed across multiple entities can apply for a FinCEN Identifier — a unique number that stands in for personal information on the BOIR.9Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN ID Application for Individuals
Because March 2025’s rule is interim, FinCEN has said it will take public comments and issue a final rule. Owners of domestic companies should watch for changes to the exemption.
FinCEN Forms Triggered by Cash
Other FinCEN reports stem from the Bank Secrecy Act, the 1970 law that pulls financial institutions and businesses into tracking suspicious activity.10Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The Bank Secrecy Act
Currency Transaction Reports
Financial institutions file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) on any cash transaction over $10,000, whether a deposit, withdrawal, exchange, or transfer. Multiple cash transactions by the same customer in a single day are aggregated.11Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Notice to Customers: A CTR Reference Guide Breaking transactions up to stay under $10,000 is called structuring, and it is a federal crime even when the underlying money is legitimate.
Suspicious Activity Reports
Banks and other financial institutions file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) when they see transactions that may involve criminal activity. Thresholds vary: any amount when a bank insider is involved, $5,000 when the bank can identify a suspect, and $25,000 whether or not a suspect is identified. Transactions of $5,000 or more that look designed to launder money or evade BSA rules also require a SAR.12eCFR. 12 CFR 208.62 – Suspicious Activity Reports SARs are confidential; the institution cannot tell the customer a report was filed.
Form 8300
Any business that receives more than $10,000 in cash in a single transaction, or in related transactions, must file Form 8300 within 15 days. Installment payments that cross $10,000 within a 12-month period also trigger it.13Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 8300 Reference Guide Since January 2024, electronic filing is mandatory for businesses already required to e-file at least 10 other information returns in the year. The business also has to send a written notice to each person named on the form by January 31 of the following year.14Internal Revenue Service. Form 8300 and Reporting Cash Payments of Over $10,000
Penalties
For a non-willful FBAR violation, the maximum civil penalty is $16,536 per violation, and “per violation” generally means per unreported account per year. Willful violations run up to $165,353 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation, whichever is greater.15eCFR. 31 CFR Part 1010 – General Provisions – Section: 1010.821 Penalty Adjustment and Table These figures adjust annually for inflation, so check the current table. A willful BSA violation can also draw up to $250,000 in criminal fines and five years in prison.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5322 – Criminal Penalties
For foreign reporting companies still on the hook for beneficial ownership filings, willfully providing false information or failing to file draws civil penalties of up to $500 per day the violation continues, plus criminal fines up to $10,000 and up to two years in prison.17eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.380 – Reports of Beneficial Ownership Information Domestic entities are outside this exposure while the current exemption stands.
Form 8300 failures — late filing or no filing — trigger penalties tied to IRS information return rules, and willful failure can bring criminal charges. Separate penalties apply for failing to send the written statement to customers named on the form. Given the 15-day window, this is where most compliance problems show up.
Fixing a Filed Report
Errors on an FBAR are corrected by filing an amended report through the BSA E-Filing System. You check the “amended” box and fill in the entire form, not just the changed fields.18Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Notice Regarding How to Correct or Amend Paper Bank Secrecy Act Forms There’s no strict deadline for amending, but correcting promptly helps if questions come up later.
Foreign reporting companies that need to update a filed BOIR — a new beneficial owner, a new address, a new passport number — have 30 days from the change to file the correction.8Federal Register. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension Domestic companies remain exempt from updates under the current rule.
Recordkeeping
Keep supporting records for five years. For the FBAR, that means the name on each account, the account number, the name of the foreign institution, and the maximum value during the year.19eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.430 – Nature of Records and Retention Period The five-year retention also applies to Form 8300 records.14Internal Revenue Service. Form 8300 and Reporting Cash Payments of Over $10,000 Save the submission confirmation or tracking number with the underlying records, and back up digital copies. If FinCEN or the IRS asks for documentation years later, a lost file is not a defense.