Cross-border filing, FBAR and FATCA
The part most preparers get wrong. Foreign accounts, foreign income, and the credits that stop you paying tax twice on the same money.
You are in the right place if…
Visa holders in the U.S.
H-1B, L-1, F-1 and green card holders with accounts back home.
Non-residents with U.S. income
Form 1040-NR filers with U.S. property, wages or investments.
Returning expats
U.S. citizens who lived abroad and now need to catch up.
Everything in the fee
- Foreign bank account reportFinCEN 114
- Foreign asset statement8938
- Foreign tax credit1116
- Foreign earned income exclusion2555
- Non-resident returns1040-NR
- Treaty position claims8833
- ITIN application for familyW-7
- Foreign rental and pension incomeSch. E
The $10,000 question
If the combined highest balance across every foreign account you hold passed $10,000 at any point during the calendar year, an FBAR is required — even if the money earned nothing, even if no U.S. tax is owed, and even if the balance dropped again the next day. The threshold is combined across all accounts, not per account, and it uses the highest balance rather than the year-end balance.
That catches people out constantly. Provident funds, LIC policies, mutual funds, and accounts you hold jointly with a parent all count. Form 8938 is separate and starts at higher thresholds.
If you have unreported years
Penalties for missing an FBAR are severe, but there are established IRS catch-up procedures for people whose failure to file was not wilful, and they generally carry far lower penalties than being found. Come to us before the IRS comes to you — the options are much better in that order.