Asking me to upgrade to Deluxe when I only need to report FBAR (FinCEN 114) but NOT FATC (Form 8938 )

[yhh]

I am a student and a resident alien in U.S. When I fill out the tax return, I select I have a foreign account. After I follow Turbotax guidance, Turbotax says that

(1) I need to file the FBAR ( FinCEN 114 form) but this form is not supported by Turbotax.

(2) but I do NOT need to report Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets (FATC), since my total assets are lower than the threshold.

When I try to file the tax return in the TurboTax free version, I get the message "To accurately complete your taxes, you need to upgrade to TurboTax Deluxe", "Why do I need to upgrade? You have a financial account in a foreign country." 

Question1: If I don't need Form 8938 but only need FinCEN 114, do I need the upgrade to Deluxe to process the return? (I didn't see any Form 8938 in my Tax Tool section).  The system just stops me to do anything if I don't upgrade.

Question2: Do I still need Form 8938 even though my assets are lower than the threshold?

[DaveF1006]

No, you will not need to upgrade to Deluxe. In fact, here is a US Treasury website to complete your FBAR and Fin Cen requirements. Additionally, you do not need to file a 8938 if under the filing thresholds.

• Unmarried taxpayers. If you are not married, you satisfy the reporting threshold only if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $75,000 at any time during the tax year.
• Married taxpayers filing a joint income tax return. If you are married and you and your spouse file a joint income tax return, you satisfy the reporting threshold only if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $100,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $150,000 at any time during the tax year.

[yhh]

If I don't need to upgrade to Deluxe, how can I keep processing my tax return instead of stopping at the upgrade website?

- Should I reselect "I don't have foreign account" and then do the FinCEN114 in other official side? 

- If I do the above method, will the tax report has problem? (since I do have foreign account)

Thanks!

[DaveF1006 · Accepted solution]

No, because as long as you are dutiful and report your FBAR requirement, the IRS or Treasury Department will not have an issue with this. Besides, indicating that you have a foreign account does not get reported to the IRS. It is merely an information tool for Turbo Tax to anticipate what forms you need to report your foreign account activity.

Meanwhile, you may select that you do not have a foreign account or just refuse the upgrade when it prompts you to do so. I don't think it will prevent you from completing your Tax Return. File the FBAR requirement, which includes FinCen 114 on the website I listed in my previous post.

Here is how to report you don't have a foreign account. Go to other tax situations>other tax forms>Prepare a report on foreign financial assets. Select start or review and after you make your selection, check the box stating that you have no foreign assets to report. let me know if this works.

@yhh