topic Re: Form 3520 in Deductions & credits

Form 3520

Sorelya — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 03:56:10 GMT

I received a gift from a foreign country in Feb. 2023.

It's my understanding that I don't have to file Form 3520 until April '24.

Is that correct or do I file it this year, 2023?

Thank you in advance!

Re: Form 3520

MaryK4 — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 02:16:18 GMT

That is correct- it is due on the same day as your tax return will be so since you received the gift in 2023, you do not have to file until next year. Remember that it is filed separately and must be mailed to the IRS.

Send Form 3520 to the following address.

Internal Revenue Service Center
P.O. Box 409101
Ogden, UT 84409

Re: Form 3520

Sorelya — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 00:00:45 GMT

Thank you for your quick reply, wonderful

Re: Form 3520

pk — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 05:37:37 GMT

@Sorelya , while agreeing with the excellent reply from @MaryK4 , just wanted to make sure you were aware of the following

(a) you said " gift from a foreign country " ----- hope you are talking about a foreign person / trust / estate i.e. what determines the need for the filing of 3520 is the status of the donor --- Non-Resident Alien, a foreign trust or Estate , established under the laws of a foreign country

(b) you have to be a US person when the gift was received i.e. US citizen or Green Card or Resident for Tax purposes

(d) generally we are talking about cash / liquid/semi-liquid gift here

(e) because the donor is foreign ( a non-resident alien person / entity ) there is no requirement for the donor to do anything for US purposes.

(f) the donor cannot / must not be a sanctioned person/entity or you will run afoul of the treasury sanction rules ( doing business with the "enemy" / money laundering)

(g) there is no tax implications for the donee ( recipient) but not reporting the gift attracts rather onerous penalty.

(h) also note that both FBAR and / or FATCA ( form 8938 ) may also come into play depending on the nature and the transfer " history" of the gift

Hope this helps

Re: Form 3520

Sorelya — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 04:18:37 GMT

Thank you for the detailed answer.

a) the donor is a non resident alien

b) I am a us person

c and d) the gift is an apartment, slightly over the reporting price

f) donor is not sanctioned

h) I was not aware of form 8938, will research it now

Thank you! Much appreciated

Re: Form 3520

pk — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 04:34:29 GMT

@Sorelya , an apartment, that means there is no need for FBAR ( FinCen form 114 ) or FATCA ( form 8938 ). Form 3520 is still required -- but you do understand that the basis of the gift ( for purposes of computing capital gain under US tax laws ) would be basis of the donor -- it is usually better ( tax wise ) to receive as part of inheritance because then the basis is Fair Market Value of the asset ( hence reduced Capital gain -- US does not index basis as in countries like India ).

Hope this helps

Re: Form 3520

Henry1968 — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 02:18:37 GMT

Hi,

If received gifts of $100000, but from two different people. Do I need to file form 3520?

Thanks in advance.

Jacob1968

Re: Form 3520

KrisD15 — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 02:36:13 GMT

Yes, you should - to be on the safe side.

Although it was two different people, the IRS may feel the two people are related.

According to the IRS:

“More than $100,000 from a nonresident alien individual or a foreign estate (including foreign persons related to that nonresident alien individual or foreign estate) that you treated as gifts or bequests; “

Form 3520

Re: Form 3520

pk — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 18:29:19 GMT

@Sorelya , the instructions for form 3520 says:

Line 54.

To calculate the threshold amount ($100,000), you must aggregate gifts from different foreign nonresident aliens and foreign estates if you know (or have reason to know) that those persons are related to each other (see Related Person , earlier) or one is acting as a nominee or intermediary for the other. For example, if you receive a gift of $75,000 from nonresident alien individual A and a gift of $40,000 from nonresident alien individual B, and you know that A and B are related, you must answer “Yes” and complete columns (a) through (c) for each gift.

So I think it would be mandatory ( based on exact facts and circumstances ) to file 3520 for the scenario that you were describing above. This has no tax implications for the recipient under US laws. I know that in tax jurisdictions where wealth tax is valid , parents / relatives often transfer ownership(s) to children / others to avoid wealth tax implications.

@KrisD15

Re: Form 3520

MUSTANGSally89 — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 17:08:19 GMT

Hello! Trying to understand if by paying for one of the premium turbotax services ("max" for instance) I can get help filling form 3250 for foreign gifts?

Re: Form 3520

DoninGA — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 17:10:11 GMT

@MUSTANGSally89 wrote:

Hello! Trying to understand if by paying for one of the premium turbotax services ("max" for instance) I can get help filling form 3250 for foreign gifts?

TurboTax does not support IRS Form 3520, Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts

Go to this IRS website for the Form 3520 and Instructions - https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-3520

Re: Form 3520

pk — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 02:08:22 GMT

@MUSTANGSally89 , between my answer above and my colleague @DoninGA , and @KrisD15 , are you now set with filing a form 3520 ? or do you need more help ? If you need more help, please some context ( from a person / estate/ trust etc. , what country , is the person/entity a foreign person under US laws, should I assume that the gift is cash/liquid asset or what etc. etc. ) .

Re: Form 3520

Austinite00 — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 21:31:32 GMT

I haven't seen a suitable answer to my question after reading all the questions. I received inheritance deposited to my account from my Brother who is deceased. They were over several days (multiple banks) and smaller amounts from each that total slightly over 100K. 15 days to be exact. In the date field, can I write 3/10-7/23 for example? Or do I need to list each along with the dates individually?

Thank you.

Re: Form 3520

pk — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 21:55:42 GMT

@Austinite00 , my two cents would be :

(a) use the last date when all the monies / wires were in your account. I say this because this was all done within 15 days ( so the monies were "in transit", multiple accounts owned by the same decedent etc. etc.).

(b) Turbo Tax cannot handle date spans but can handle multiple entries

( c) This was related to the same decedent, same country etc. etc.

If the amounts were from different persons, different countries or over a long period like a month or two , then YES, you should enter these receipts individually.

Does this help ? Is there more I can do for you ?

Re: Form 3520

Austinite00 — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 20:54:56 GMT

So I was able to get an IRS agent on the phone, and although hesitant, he said he would go ahead and help me this time. He said to attach a separate spreadsheet and list each transaction as separate if they were on different days, even though it was the same person. In my case, 4 transactions were within 4 days of each other, and then some were a month later etc.. he said to group it by day, and any transactions on the same date can be added together.. but those on the next day need a new line. Guess they have spoken.. so it is I think 10 unique lines for me. Thanks for responding.. and hopefully they will be more clear about this in the future.. I did let the agent know what the issue was, and he agreed. Also, he said to send all the pages even though I am only writing on page 1 and 6. He said this is because there is a person keying it in, and he/she expects each form there, and flips each form as he/she enters it in.. so I guess that makes sense. It can be single sided or double sided.. doesn't matter (had to ask that as well to be very clear).

Re: Form 3520

tianwaifeixian — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 15:49:49 GMT

"one is acting as a nominee or intermediary" what does that mean? I received gift from 3 ppl. Two are relatives but the 3rd one is not. do I need to file for the 3rd one as well (the amount for the 3rd person is lower than the threshold)

Re: Form 3520

pk — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:08:36 GMT

@tianwaifeixian , Please could you put more details on your question -- I want to be sure I understand the full situation before attempting an answer . In the meantime, the form is per year and therefore the threshold is based on total amounts received ( aggregation of all gifts from foreign persons/trusts/estates etc. ).

I will come back once I hear from you--yes ?

Re: Form 3520

tianwaifeixian — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 00:52:18 GMT

here are some details. Say in 2023, I received gift money wired to my US account from 3 different persons A （say 70k), B (50k), and C(40K).

Now A and B are related, but C is not related to anyone. In this case, do I only report A and B (since they are related and aggregated amount is greater than the reporting threshold 100k), or do I also need to report C on 3520. Thanks!

Re: Form 3520

pk — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 18:07:11 GMT

@tianwaifeixian , I would strongly suggest ( for the example you have provided ) that you recognize all three gifts. I say this because (a) there is tax consequence for you and (b) looking at what the law is trying to do is to extend the umbrella over cases where the donor is trying to avoid recognition by parceling out the gift source ( artificially ) amongst related persons and/or trusts/estate etc. Just do the right thing and recognize all the gifts -- it shows an intent to follow the spirit of the law.

At the same time just following the letter of the law ( and not the spirit ) you have to report ONLY person A and B because you know they are related ( and therefore require aggregation ) while C does not have to be recognized.

That is my view .

Hope this helps.