Specified foreign financial asset

Section 6038D sets the reporting rule. A specified individual, such as a US citizen or resident alien, files Form 8938 with their return above a threshold. For an unmarried filer in the US, the thresholds are $50,000 at year end or $75,000 at any time. For one living abroad, they are $200,000 and $300,000. Joint filers’ thresholds are twice those.

Foreign bank and brokerage accounts count, and so do foreign pensions and deferred pay plans. Outside an account, foreign stocks and bonds count. So do stakes in foreign partnerships and in foreign hedge or private equity funds. Assets outside an account count only if you hold them for investment. An asset inside a foreign account you report is covered by the account and is not listed again.

Foreign real estate you own directly does not count, and neither does foreign cash, gold or art you hold yourself. Accounts at a US branch of a foreign bank are left out, as are US mutual funds that invest abroad. So is foreign stock in a US brokerage account, because a US institution holds it.

Form 8938 does not replace the FBAR, and many people file both. The FBAR lists only accounts, not other assets. It also reaches accounts you can sign on but do not own, which Form 8938 leaves out.