FBAR on change of status

[raj13]

Hello,

I came to US on F1Visa in 2016 August and got my H1B in October 2019. So for the years 2016, 17, 18, 19, I was non-resident alien for tax purposes. But in this year i would be resident for tax-purposes. I have foreign account with more than 10,000$ and I want to know if i need to  file FBAR this year or from next year onwards.

[pk]

@raj13 ,  yes for the year 2020 ( sometime in  March , based on the exact date  ) you will pass the  Substantial Presence Test  and therefore be classed as  Resident Alien for Tax purposes.  This will mean  you will be subject to FBAR and FATCA rules.   Assuming that by foreign account you mean a liquid account (  you own  or you have signature authority only )  with a value of  equal or more than US$10,000  at anytime during the year, you need to file  form 114 at www.FINCEN.gov -- it is an online only form.  It is painless to fille out every year  that you are  subject to FBAR rules.   TurboTax does not support this form  but will ask you if you have a foreign account and if you are required to file the form 114.

Note that 2019, you are still a Non-Resident Alien and need to file form 1040-NR ( not supported by TurboTax  ) -- use SprinTax or a tax professional familiar with international  filing.

 Which country are you from  ( India ? )

Namaste ji

[raj13]

@pk 

According to substantial presence test, i will be resident towards end of may in this year. And i have already filed using sprintax for FY2019. So do i still need to file form 114 this year, because i was non-resident in the last year.

And yes, i am from India 🙂

[KarenJ2]

If you are considered a nonresident alien for 2019 tax purposes (you filed Form 1040NR for 2019), you are exempt from filing the FBAR for 2019 tax year.