FBAR Filing Help - Do I Need to Report ALL Foreign Accounts on FBAR, including $0 balance accounts?

[parachem]

I need to file an FBAR for 2023 because one of my foreign bank accounts exceeded $10,000 at some point during the year. I also have 3 other foreign accounts with very low balances (all under $200, some even at $0). Do I need to report all my foreign accounts on the FBAR, even the ones with zero balances? Any insight here would be greatly appreciated.

[mb11616]

No, you only need to report the accounts where balances exceeded $10K during the year.

[DaveF1006]

According to the US Treasury website, an FBAR must be filed if the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. Please view the FBAR  line by line instructions. 

The term aggregate would suggest that all financial accounts should be reported.

@parachem 

[parachem]

Thank you, @DaveF1006!

[maraisabella]

Do you know if we need to split savings and checking accounts held by the same bank account into separate entries, or whether its okay to consolidate those (eg. 2 savings accs and 1 spending account all linked to the same overall bank & user information) ? thanks! 

[DaveF1006]

No, according to IRS sources, it suggests that each account be reported. FBAR reporting consist of:

• Name on the account,
• Account number,
• Name and address of the foreign bank,
• Type of account, and
• Maximum value during the year

They report you must keep records on these accounts in case ‌these are examined for any reason.

IRS FBAR Reporting

Instructions for FBAR Reporting