November 2011: Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets |
If you are a specified person who owns specified foreign financial assets and the value of those assets exceeds an applicable reporting threshold, for tax years beginning after March 18, 2010, you must file, Form 8938 with your annual tax return (including extension). Transitional relief is available for taxpayers, who are required to file Form 8938, with tax year’s beginning after March 18, 2010 but whose annual return was filed prior to the release of Form 8938. This is relief of time to file, not of the filing obligation.
At this time (November 2011) a specified person is a specified individual, defined to include a U.S. citizen and certain non-residents. The IRS anticipates issuing further guidance that will include a specified domestic entity in the definition of a specified person, requiring certain U.S. entities to file. A specified foreign financial asset includes any financial account maintained by a foreign financial institution and other foreign financial assets including stock and securities issued by non U.S. Persons, an interest in a foreign entity, and any financial instrument or contract that has a non-U.S. Person counter- party/issuer. The reporting thresholds are dependent on taxpayers’ filing status. An outline is provided below.
| Filing status: | Value on the last day of the tax year is at least: | Or, at any time during the tax year, the value is greater than: |
|---|---|---|
| Unmarried taxpayers living in the U.S. | $50,000 | $75,000 |
| Married taxpayers filing jointly living in the U.S. | $100,000 | $150,000 |
| Married taxpayers filing separately living in the U.S. | $50,000 | $75,000 |
| Taxpayers not filing a joint return living abroad that are bona fide residents of a foreign country or that are present in foreign countries for 330 full days during a 12-month period | $200,000 | $400,000 |
| Married taxpayers filing jointly who live abroad and are bona fide residents of a foreign country or that are present in foreign countries for 330 full days during a 12 month period | $400,000 | $600,000 |
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November 2011: Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
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