FBAR Filing Deadline 2026: FinCEN 114 Due Dates, Requirements, and Penalties

Published: March 27, 2026 Tax Year: 2026

A Message from Slava

I moved from the UK to the US after building Anna Money, a fintech serving 60,000+ small businesses across Britain. When I arrived, I still had bank accounts in the UK. A personal account, a savings account, access to business accounts. What I didn't realize immediately was that the US government requires every American — citizen, green card holder, or tax resident — to report foreign financial accounts to the Treasury Department every year.

FBAR, formally known as FinCEN 114, is not a tax form. It's a financial disclosure filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. And the penalties for not filing it are among the harshest in all of US law. We're talking potential fines of $16,117 per account per year for non-willful violations, and up to 50% of the account balance for willful ones. Criminal prosecution is on the table too.

If you moved to the US from another country and still have a bank account back home — even one you barely use — this guide is for you. If you're a dual citizen, an expat, or a business owner with any foreign financial account, read this carefully. The rules are strict, but the filing process itself is straightforward once you understand what's required.

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Executive Summary: FBAR (FinCEN 114) at a Glance

Legal basis: 31 USC §5314, 31 CFR §1010.350, IRC §6038D

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What Is FBAR (FinCEN 114)?

FBAR stands for Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. Despite its close association with tax compliance, FBAR is not a tax return. It's a disclosure form filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury. The form's primary purpose is to help the government detect money laundering, tax evasion, and other financial crimes involving offshore accounts.

The legal authority comes from the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (31 USC §5314), with implementing regulations at 31 CFR §1010.350. The IRS has been delegated enforcement authority, which is why FBAR comes up in tax compliance — but the filing goes to FinCEN, not the IRS. The current form, FinCEN 114, replaced the older TD F 90-22.1 in 2013 when FinCEN moved to electronic-only filing.

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Who Must File an FBAR?

You must file an FBAR if you are a US person and you had a financial interest in or signature authority over one or more foreign financial accounts, and the aggregate value of all those accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year.

Who counts as a "US person"?

• US citizens (including dual citizens living abroad)
• US residents (green card holders and those meeting the substantial presence test)
• Domestic entities: corporations, partnerships, LLCs, trusts, and estates formed in the US

What triggers the filing requirement?

Two types of relationships with a foreign account trigger FBAR filing:

Financial interest: You own the account, or you're the owner of record, or you have sufficient interest in the entity that owns the account (generally more than 50% ownership).

Signature authority: You can control the disposition of assets in the account by direct communication with the financial institution, even if the account isn't yours. This commonly applies to officers and employees of companies with foreign bank accounts.

The $10,000 threshold is AGGREGATE

This is the most misunderstood part of FBAR. The $10,000 threshold applies to the combined maximum value of all your foreign financial accounts during the year — not to any single account.

Example: You have three foreign accounts. Account A peaked at $4,000, Account B peaked at $3,500, and Account C peaked at $3,000. None individually exceeded $10,000, but if their combined peak values on any single day during the year exceeded $10,000, you must file. The test looks at the aggregate of the maximum balances on any given day, not the individual peaks on different days.

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What Accounts Are Reportable?

The definition of "financial account" for FBAR purposes is broad. Reportable accounts include:

• Bank accounts — checking, savings, time deposits (CDs)
• Securities accounts — brokerage accounts, including those holding stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other securities
• Mutual funds and pooled funds — accounts with entities that are mutual funds or similar pooled funds
• Insurance policies with a cash value — certain foreign life insurance or annuity policies
• Trusts — if you have a financial interest in a foreign trust that holds financial accounts
• Retirement accounts — foreign pension plans and retirement accounts in many cases (this is a gray area — consult a tax professional)
• Commodity futures or options accounts
• Any other account maintained with a financial institution outside the United States

Accounts held at a US branch of a foreign bank are not reportable — they're considered domestic accounts.

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FBAR Filing Deadline

The FBAR deadline is April 15 of the year following the calendar year being reported. For 2025 calendar year accounts, the deadline is April 15, 2026. (See our full tax deadline calendar for all key dates.)

Automatic Extension to October 15

If you miss the April 15 deadline, you receive an automatic extension to October 15. No form is required. You don't need to request this extension — it applies to all FBAR filers automatically.

This automatic extension was established by FinCEN Notice 2015-1 and made permanent through the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015. Unlike tax return extensions, there's no risk of late payment penalties — FBAR is an informational filing only, with no tax due.

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How to File FBAR

FBAR must be filed electronically through the BSA E-Filing System at bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov. There is no paper filing option.

Filing steps:

1. Create a BSA E-Filing account at bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov (if you don't already have one)
2. Select FinCEN 114 from the available forms
3. Complete the form with information about each foreign account: bank name, account number, type of account, maximum value during the year, and country
4. Submit electronically — you'll receive a confirmation with a tracking number
5. Save the confirmation for your records (keep for at least 5 years)

For each account, you'll need: the institution's name and address, account number, account type, maximum value during the year (converted to USD using the Treasury's end-of-year exchange rate), and country.

Joint accounts: Each spouse must independently determine whether they meet the $10,000 aggregate threshold. The full value of a jointly-owned account counts toward each holder's aggregate — you don't split the balance. A spouse who doesn't have their own filing requirement can be included on the other spouse's FBAR.

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FBAR vs. Form 8938 (FATCA): Key Differences

These are separate filings with different thresholds, agencies, and penalties. Many people must file both.

If you have $50,000+ in foreign accounts, you likely need both. Filing one does not satisfy the other.

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Penalties for Not Filing FBAR

FBAR penalties are among the most severe in the entire US legal system for a compliance obligation. The penalties are assessed per account, per year — and they can exceed the total balance of the accounts in question.

Non-Willful Penalties

If the IRS determines that your failure to file was non-willful (you didn't know about the requirement, or made an honest mistake), the penalty is up to $16,117 per account per year (2026 inflation-adjusted amount under 31 USC §5321(a)(5)(B)(i)).

Example: You have 3 unreported accounts and miss filing for 3 years. Maximum non-willful penalty: 3 accounts x 3 years x $16,117 = $144,053.

Willful Penalties

If the IRS determines your failure to file was willful (you knew about the requirement and chose not to comply), the penalty jumps dramatically:

• The greater of $161,170 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation, per account per year (2026 inflation-adjusted under 31 USC §5321(a)(5)(C))

Example: You have a single unreported account with $500,000 and are found willful for 2 years. Maximum willful penalty: 2 x $250,000 (50% of $500,000) = $500,000 — the entire account balance.

Criminal Penalties

In extreme cases, willful failure to file an FBAR can result in:

• Up to $250,000 in fines per violation
• Up to 5 years of imprisonment per violation
• Both fine and imprisonment

Criminal referrals are rare but do happen, particularly in cases involving large unreported balances, fraudulent activity, or structured transactions designed to evade reporting.

For non-willful violations, a reasonable cause defense may reduce or eliminate penalties — factors include your filing history, whether you reported the foreign income on your tax return, and the steps you took upon learning of the requirement.

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Voluntary Disclosure Programs

If you've missed filing FBARs in prior years, there are formal programs to come into compliance with reduced penalties.

Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures

For taxpayers whose failure to file was non-willful, the Streamlined Procedures offer a path back to compliance with significantly reduced penalties:

• US residents: File 3 years of delinquent tax returns and 6 years of delinquent FBARs. Pay a 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty on the highest aggregate balance of unreported foreign accounts during the 6-year period.
• Foreign residents: File 3 years of delinquent tax returns and 6 years of delinquent FBARs. No miscellaneous offshore penalty applies (the 5% penalty is waived for qualifying foreign residents).

The Streamlined Procedures require a certification under penalties of perjury that your failure to file was non-willful. This certification is taken seriously — making a false certification can result in additional penalties.

IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice

For taxpayers whose failure was willful (or who aren't comfortable certifying non-willfulness), the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice provides a way to come forward and avoid criminal prosecution. This is not a formal "program" with fixed terms — it's handled on a case-by-case basis through IRS Criminal Investigation. Penalties under this path are typically higher than the Streamlined Procedures but far less than what the IRS could assess under a standard examination.

Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures

If you have no unreported income (you paid all your taxes but simply didn't file the FBARs), you may qualify for the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures. File the delinquent FBARs with a statement explaining why they're late, and the IRS generally does not impose penalties if there's reasonable cause and no unreported income.

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Common Situations That Trigger FBAR Filing

Immigrants with home-country accounts

The most common situation. You moved to the US and still have a bank account back home — for rental income, family support, or simply because you never closed it. If that account (combined with any other foreign accounts) exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year, you must file.

Dual citizens and expats

US citizens holding citizenship in another country must report financial accounts in that country. Americans living abroad must report all their foreign accounts — local checking, savings, investment accounts. Expats benefit from higher Form 8938 thresholds ($200,000/$300,000) but the FBAR threshold stays at $10,000 regardless of where you live.

Business owners

If your business has accounts with foreign banks, those are reportable. And if you can sign on a company's foreign bank account — even if it's not your money — you may have an FBAR filing obligation. This applies to corporate officers, employees with check-signing authority, and trustees of foreign trusts.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Not knowing about FBAR until the IRS asks

This is the most common mistake — and it's entirely understandable. Many immigrants to the US have no idea that their home-country bank accounts trigger a US reporting requirement. The IRS doesn't send you a reminder to file. You typically learn about FBAR when a tax preparer asks about foreign accounts, when you receive a foreign-sourced income question on your tax return, or when the IRS sends a letter. By then, you may be several years behind.

What to do: If you're a US person with any financial account outside the United States, check whether you need to file. The earlier you address it, the more options you have for penalty reduction.

2. Thinking $10,000 is per account

The $10,000 threshold is not per account — it's the aggregate of all your foreign accounts combined. If you have a $6,000 checking account in one country and a $5,000 savings account in another, you've exceeded the threshold. Both accounts must be reported.

3. Not filing both FBAR and Form 8938 when required

FBAR and Form 8938 have different filing thresholds, go to different agencies, and cover slightly different assets. Many taxpayers with foreign accounts exceeding $50,000 are required to file both. Filing one does not satisfy the requirement for the other.

4. Assuming closed accounts don't count

If your foreign account was open for any part of the year and the aggregate of all your foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during that year, you must file. An account closed in February is still reportable if the aggregate threshold was met while it was open.

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How Jupid Helps Track Foreign Financial Activity

If you have foreign bank accounts alongside domestic ones, keeping track of all your transactions and identifying which accounts may trigger FBAR is a real challenge. Jupid connects to your bank accounts and automatically categorizes your income and expenses with 95.9% accuracy, giving you a clear picture of your financial activity across all your accounts.

When Jupid identifies transactions involving foreign accounts or foreign-sourced income, it flags them so you can determine whether your reporting obligations extend beyond your standard tax return. Instead of manually reviewing bank statements in multiple currencies, you get a consolidated view of your financial picture.

Jupid's WhatsApp and iMessage AI accountant lets you ask questions about your accounts from anywhere. "Do I have any foreign transactions this year?" or "What's my total income from overseas?" — and get answers based on your actual bank data.

You can access Jupid through the web interface, Claude Code, and other AI tools. It's built for business owners who need accurate financial tracking without spending hours on manual bookkeeping.

Connect your bank to Jupid and get clarity on your financial accounts — domestic and international.

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Action Checklist

Determine Your Filing Requirement

• List every financial account you hold outside the United States
• Determine the maximum balance of each account during the calendar year (convert to USD using Treasury exchange rates)
• Add up the maximum balances — if the aggregate exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year, you must file
• Check whether you also need to file Form 8938 (thresholds: $50,000 for US residents, $200,000 for expats)

File Your FBAR

• Create an account at bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov if you don't have one
• Gather account information: institution name, account number, type, maximum value, country
• Convert all balances to USD using the Treasury reporting rates of exchange for the last day of the calendar year
• File FinCEN 114 electronically by April 15 (or by October 15 under the automatic extension)
• Save your confirmation and keep records for at least 5 years

If You're Behind on Filing

• Determine whether your non-filing was willful or non-willful
• Consult a tax professional experienced in international tax compliance
• Evaluate the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (non-willful), Voluntary Disclosure Practice (willful), or Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures (no unreported income)
• File delinquent FBARs and any amended tax returns as applicable

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Resources and Citations

Official Sources

• FinCEN: FBAR Filing Information — Official FBAR overview from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
• BSA E-Filing System — Where you file FinCEN 114 electronically
• IRS: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) — IRS reference page for FBAR requirements
• IRS: Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR — Side-by-side comparison of the two filings
• IRS: Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures — Voluntary disclosure for non-willful filers
• Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange — Official exchange rates for FBAR valuation

Legal Authority

• 31 USC §5314 — Records and reports on foreign financial agency transactions (Bank Secrecy Act authority for FBAR)
• 31 CFR §1010.350 — Reports of foreign financial accounts (implementing regulation defining who must file)
• 31 USC §5321(a)(5) — Civil penalties for FBAR violations (non-willful and willful penalty amounts)
• 31 USC §5322 — Criminal penalties for FBAR violations
• IRC §6038D — Information with respect to foreign financial assets (Form 8938 / FATCA)
• FinCEN Notice 2015-1 — Establishing the automatic FBAR extension to October 15

2026 Key Numbers

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Final Thoughts

FBAR is one of the most consequential filings in US tax law, and it's the one that catches the most people off guard. If you have any financial account outside the United States — a bank account in your home country, a brokerage account you opened while living abroad, signature authority on your company's foreign account — check whether the aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year. If it did, file FinCEN 114.

The automatic extension to October 15 gives you time if you missed April 15. If you're years behind, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures offer a path back to compliance with a 5% penalty instead of the standard penalties that can consume your entire account balance.

Don't wait for the IRS to ask about your foreign accounts. File proactively, and keep your records for at least five years.

For more on business tax deadlines and the consequences of not filing, see our related guides.

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Disclaimer

This article provides general information about FBAR (FinCEN 114) filing requirements and should not be considered tax or legal advice. FBAR rules are complex, and specific situations — including joint accounts, trusts, signature authority, and retirement accounts — may have additional nuances not fully covered here. Penalty amounts are inflation-adjusted and may change. For advice specific to your situation, consult with a qualified tax professional or attorney experienced in international tax compliance.

Tax Year: 2026 Last Updated: March 27, 2026