We would certainly not disagree with you that the reporting process for foreign financial account disclosure can indeed be tedious. The short answer to your question is that, unfortunately, such accounts must each be specified individually, and the foreign financial firm and address named for each account as well, according the IRS rules. The longer answer to your question is discussed below.
In fact, there are two
separate disclosure forms that may be required for foreign financial accounts and assets; each also has different
reporting rules. The one you highlight is known as IRS Form 8938, and can be
attached to the relevant yearly Form 1040 tax return. The other is FinCen
Form 114, which can only be filed via the internet. The following Internal
Revenue Service webpage describes them in some detail, and provides their
dollar value reporting levels:
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/comparison-of-form-8938-and-fbar-requirements
Form 8938 is included in
TurboTax. FinCen Form 114 is not included in TurboTax, and you may need to access that reporting
webpage separately, if your foreign financial assets total over the
limit(s). Note that you can get to the FinCen reporting internet site
directly through the above IRS link.
In conclusion, the answer to
your original question is that you are legally required to report each account individually on Form 8938. That process, although laborious where many foreign accounts are involved, is specified under current US law. The good news however, is that no actual tax ever results from this disclosure form. Additionally, you may be subject to FinCen Form 114 as well (which is a separate legal disclosure obligation, despite the fact that the Treasury Department which gathers the FinCen 114 information is also the "home" Department of the IRS, which collects Form 8938).
Please remember that we don't make the underlying tax laws here at TurboTax; we only help our customers try to navigate them.
Thank you for asking this important question.
