That's a good question you ask. The answer to it is that that if your name appears on the account as a joint owner, and you are a United States taxpayer (either a citizen or resident alien), and the total amount of the foreign gifts received exceeds $100,000, then you are required to file Form 3520.
While the TurboTax program does not contain Form 3520 among its many tax forms, fortunately Form 3520 can be completed manually, outside of the software, and then filed (by mail) separately from the rest of your tax return.
Complying with Form 3520 shouldn't be too difficult either, as
there is never any tax directly due when filing it. All it really costs, then, is a stamp and the time
necessary to complete the form.
Fortunately, despite being 6 pages long, it's a relatively easy
disclosure, as far as such IRS tax forms are concerned.
For reference, here are some courtesy links to Form 3520 and its instructions:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3520.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i3520.pdf
In addition, given the existence of your joint account
, there are two
separate financial disclosure forms that may be required (beyond Form 3520); each also has different
reporting rules.
One 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
If you are not already familiar with these foreign financial
account disclosure rules (which apply to US citizens, as well as
resident aliens), then you are respectfully encouraged to learn more
about them, as the US Internal Revenue Service has become increasingly
vigilant in enforcing these offshore financial account rules in recent
years.
You can read more about IRS Form 8938 and FinCen Form 114 through the above link.
Thank you for asking this important question.
