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US Individual - Filing Requirements

Foreign Assets

1.1.1

Gifts Received

1.1.2

Gifts Made

1.1.3

1.1.4

Foreign Trust
Foreign Partnership

1.1.5

Foreign Corporation

1.1.5

A practical tool designed to help identify U.S. international information reporting requirements based on specific facts and ownership thresholds.

The U.S. Individual Filing Requirements section is organized into key categories of international reporting, including Foreign Financial Assets, Gifts Received, Gifts Made, Foreign Trusts, Foreign Partnerships, and Foreign Corporations.

Within each category, a series of events or conditions that trigger a U.S. international information reporting requirement are presented in the form of flashcards.

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Each flashcard represents a specific triggering condition. The front of the card describes the relevant fact pattern or ownership threshold, while the reverse side identifies the IRS form required when that condition is met.

This structure allows tax professionals to quickly match a client’s facts with the applicable international reporting obligation, helping ensure that the correct forms are included with the tax return.

1.1 FOREIGN FINANCIAL ASSETS

Had financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial account(s) AND the aggregate maximum value exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.
FinCEN Form 114 - Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

  • The FBAR is a separate filing requirement from the federal income tax return. It is filed electronically with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), not with the IRS.

  • The FBAR is not attached to Form 1040 or any other income tax return. Some software (most tax software, actually) can generate the form and e-file it with FinCEN along with the Form 1040..

  • The $10,000 threshold applies to the aggregate maximum value of all foreign financial accounts

Lived in the United States, and the total value of your foreign financial assets exceeded the applicable threshold: Single / MFS / HH more than $50,000 at year-end or more than $75,000 at any time during the year; MFJ more than $100,000 at year-end or more than $150,000 at any time during the year.
Form 8938 — Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets

  • Form 8938 is filed with the IRS and attached to the individual income tax return.

  • Reporting thresholds depend on filing status and U.S. residency.

  • Some assets may be reportable on both Form 8938 and the FBAR, but the requirements are separate

Lived in the United States, and the total value of your foreign financial assets exceeded the applicable threshold: Single / MFS / HH more than $50,000 at year-end or more than $75,000 at any time during the year; MFJ more than $100,000 at year-end or more than $150,000 at any time during the year.
Form 8938 — Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets

  • Form 8938 applies to U.S. individuals who meet the IRS definition of living abroad.

  • Higher reporting thresholds apply to individuals living outside the United States.

  • Foreign assets may also be reportable on the FBAR depending on asset type

1.2 GIFTS RECEIVED

Received gifts or inheritances from a foreign individual or foreign estate totaling more than $100,000 during the year?
Form 3520 — Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts

  • Form 3520 is used to report certain foreign gifts and inheritances received by U.S. individuals. 

  • The $100,000 threshold applies to the aggregate amount received during the year.

  • Form 3520 is filed separately from the individual income tax return

Received gifts from a foreign corporation totaling more than $19,570 during the year?
Form 3520 - Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts

  • Form 3520 is required to report certain gifts received from foreign corporations

  • The reporting threshold applies to the aggregate value of gifts received during the year.

  • Form 3520 is filed separately from the individual income tax return.

1.3 GIFTS MADE

Made gifts to a foreign individual or to a foreign partnership that exceed $19,000 per recipient, or $38,000 per recipient if married and electing to split gifts.
Form 709 — United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return

  • Form 709 is required to report gifts that exceed the annual exclusion (for both US and international gifts).

  • Gifts to partnerships are treated as gifts to the individual partners based on ownership interests.

  • Gift tax may not be owed if the lifetime exemption applies, but filing may still be required.

  • Form 709 is filed separately from the individual income tax return.

Received gifts from a foreign corporation totaling more than $19,570 during the year.Made a gift of money or property to a foreign corporation during the year.
Form 709 — United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return

  • Form 709 is filed separately from the individual income tax return.

  • No annual gift tax exclusion applies to gifts made to corporations.

  • The full value of the gift is reportable regardless of the amount. 

1.4 FOREIGN TRUST

Owned, created, transferred assets to, or had a beneficial interest in a foreign trust during the year.
Form 3520 - Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts / Form 3520-A - Annual Information Return of Foreign Trust With a U.S. Owner

  • Form 3520: An information return filed by a U.S. person to report certain transactions with a foreign trust (such as transfers to the trust or distributions from it) and receipt of large foreign gifts or inheritances.

  • Form 3520-A: An annual information return for a foreign trust with a U.S. owner that reports the trust’s financial activity and provides statements to the U.S. owner and beneficiaries.

  • Form 3520 reports the U.S. person’s transactions or relationship with the foreign trust, while Form 3520-A reports the foreign trust’s annual financial information when it has a U.S. owner.

1.5 FOREIGN PARTNERSHIP

Controlled/owned more than a 50% interest in a foreign partnership?
Form 8865 - Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships, Category 1 Filer

  • A Category 1 filer for Form 8865 is a U.S. person who controlled a foreign partnership at any time during the tax year. This filer must report comprehensive financial information.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

Owned more than 10% of a foreign partnership that was controlled by U.S. persons.
Form 8865 - Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships, Category 2 Filer

  • A Category 2 for Form 8865 filer does not individually control the partnership but must still report certain ownership information. The reporting requirements are generally more limited.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

Contributed property to a foreign partnership in exchange for an interest and owned at least 10% after contribution.
Form 8865 - Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships, Category 3 Filer

  • Category 3, Form 8896 filing is triggered by a contribution of property to a foreign partnership where the post-contribution ownership is at least 10%.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

Contributed property to a foreign partnership and the total value contributed during the 12-month period exceeded $100,000.
Form 8865 - Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships, Category 3 Filer

  • Category 3, Form 8896  filing is also triggered when the aggregate value of property contributed during a 12-month period exceeds $100,000.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

1.6 FOREIGN CORPORATION

Transferred more than $100,000 in cash or property to a foreign corporation while owning less than 10% (by vote and value) immediately after the transfer.
Form 926-Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation

  • Form 926 may be required independently or in conjunction with Form 5471, depending on whether the transferor meets the ownership and control thresholds that trigger Form 5471 filing obligations. In certain situations, Form 926 is required even when Form 5471 is not applicable.

  • Depending on the nature of the property transferred and the ownership interest held after the transfer, the transaction may result in the recognition of capital gain under IRC §367.

Owned (directly, indirectly, or constructively) at least 10% of the vote or value of a foreign corporation that was a Section 965 specified foreign corporation (SFC) during the corporation’s tax year, and held that stock on the last day of the year in which the corporation was a Section 965 SFC.
Form 5471 - Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations - Category 1 Filer

  • A Category 1 for Form 5471 

  • Section 965 was enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and imposed a one-time mandatory repatriation tax on certain U.S. shareholders of foreign corporations. It applies to U.S. shareholders of specified foreign corporations (SFCs) and generally requires the inclusion of the shareholder’s pro rata share of the corporation’s accumulated post-1986 deferred foreign earnings, regardless of whether those earnings were actually distributed

Served as an officer or director of a foreign corporation in which a U.S. person acquired stock resulting in at least 10% ownership (by vote or value) or increasing an existing ownership interest by an additional 10% or more.
Form 5471 - Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations - Category 2 Filer

  • Category 2 Form 5471 filers are U.S. citizens or residents who serve as officers or directors of a foreign corporation at the time a U.S. person acquires a significant ownership interest in that corporation.

  • Category 2 filing obligations apply even if the officer or director does not own any stock in the foreign corporation.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

A change in ownership or status with respect to a foreign corporation that resulted in acquiring, increasing to, decreasing from, or otherwise meeting or ceasing to meet the 10% ownership threshold (by vote or value), including acquiring or disposing of stock.
Form 5471 - Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations - Category 3 Filer

  • Category 3 Form 5471 filers include U.S. persons who experience certain ownership changes with respect to a foreign corporation during the tax year.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

Had control of a foreign corporation during the corporation’s annual accounting period (more than 50% of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock or more than 50% of the total value of shares of all classes of stock)
Form 5471 - Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations - Category 4 Filer

  • Category 4 Form 5471 filers include U.S. persons who experience certain ownership changes with respect to a foreign corporation during the tax year.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

Owned stock as a U.S. shareholder in a foreign corporation that was a controlled foreign corporation (CFC) at any time during the corporation’s tax year and held that stock on the last day of the year in which the corporation was a CFC.
Form 709 — United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return

  • Category 3 Form 5471 filers include U.S. persons who experience certain ownership changes with respect to a foreign corporation during the tax year.

  • See here for more info about specific Schedules by Category of Filer.

*CFC

Is the entity a foreign corporation?
Are there any U.S. shareholders?
(U.S. shareholder = U.S. person owning ≥10% of vote or value, directly, indirectly, or constructively)
Do U.S. shareholders collectively own more than 50%?
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