Transferring money to wife’s account would make me having ‘financial interest’ in her account for FBAR filing?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
February 10, 2020
1 reply
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I have some foreign accounts in India that are worth more than $10000.
The aggregate of my wife’s foreign accounts (none of them are joint accounts and hence not associated with me in any way) is less than $10000.
I transferred some funds from my foreign account to my wife's foreign account in year 2019. I have no ownership, signature authority etc on her accounts and she is the sole owner of those.

I understand that i will have to file an FBAR for my accounts but my wife wouldn't have to file one for herself, is that correct?
My other question is do i need to report my wife's account on my FBAR. Does merely transferring some funds from my account to my wife's account makes me to have 'financial interest' in her account for FBAR reporting requirements. Could you please clarify?

VictorW9

Level 7

Even though the filing requirements of the FBAR would seem to suggest that your spouse is exempt from filing an FBAR, I would report the accounts, particularly because of the transfer you made to an account. It may appear in substance that you have an interest in the accounts even though legally you don't, I will play it safe by filing the FBAR for all the accounts since you will be filing a joint return.

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