On Foreign accounts, TurboTax asked if I lived abroad, and since I did, it had a higher threshold for filing 8938. But ...

[newbis7]

On Foreign accounts, TurboTax asked if I lived abroad, and since I did, it had a higher threshold for filing 8938. But we were living in the U.S. in 2016 and my wife is a U.S. resident only, not a U.S. Citizen.  The IRS instructions seem to say that if a U.S. citizen ever lived abroad, then the higher thresholds apply according to the presence abroad test, but for a U.S. resident, then the time abroad had to intersect the tax year in question.  So if I meet the test and she doesn't because she's not a U.S. citizen, then which threshold applies to us on a joint return?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

The 8938 instructions define "presence abroad" like this on page 4:

"Presence abroad. You satisfy the presence abroad test if you are one of the following. A U.S. citizen who has been a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year. A U.S. citizen or resident who is present in a foreign country or countries at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months that ends in the tax year being reported."

It appears you and your wife are treated the same for determining the threshold.  The issue is whether the two of you completed the 330-period which ended in 2016.  

[newbis7]

Thanks so much for answering.  So in other words, when TurboTax asks "Did you live in a foreign country?" I should say "No" because our period living abroad ended in 2013?

[Anonymous]

That's correct.