Me (US Citizen)
Wife (Greencard)
I used to work abroad and always filed my FBAR while filing as Married Filing Separately (MFS). I've been married to my wife for over 10 years. I returned to the U.S. in November 2023 and worked part-time for a U.S. company. I filed my 2023 taxes as MFS and used the Physical Presence Test, covering the period from November 2022 to November 2023.
To the best of my knowledge, since I qualified for the Physical Presence Test, I didn’t need to file Form 8833 because my foreign bank account balance was less than $100K.
In January 2024, my wife arrived in the U.S., received her green card, and got her SSN a week or two later. My question is: Did my wife need to file FBAR or FATCA when she wasn’t a U.S. resident before 2024?
Before 2024, I always filed as MFS, listing her name with "non-resident" next to it, and the IRS accepted our returns without issue. However, she has over $200K in her foreign bank account, and I’m getting worried about potential penalties. BTW, together, we have less than $300k and we don't share the same account.
Also, I have never owed taxes to the IRS because I always earned less than $100K while living and working abroad.
