FBAR filing for loan repayments

[anujaclemson]

I'm a citizen of India and working in US on F1 visa and I've been in US for 2.5 years. I have two bank accounts in India, I usually transfer amounts in range of $2-3K every month to Account1 (savings account) in India and then transfer the same amount to Account2 (student loan account) in India to repay my student loans. I've transferred more than $10K in total in an year, but the cumulative amount never went above $10K at any time (I used to immediately use the $2-3K I'm sending every month to repay my loan). Will I still be required to file FBAR?

[LeeM · Accepted solution]

No, not as long as it did not exceed $10,000 at any time during 2016. 

The Bank Secrecy Act requires U.S. persons who own a foreign bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, unit trust, or other financial account to file a Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Authority (FBAR), if:

1. The person has financial interest in, signature authority, or other authority over one or more accounts in a foreign country, and
2. The aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.