Tax

What are FBAR and FATCA?

The United States taxes its citizens and residents on their worldwide income — also when they live abroad — and wants to know about their foreign accounts. If the total value of your non-US financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any moment in the year, you must file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) — online, by 15 April, with an automatic extension to 15 October. Separately, under FATCA, Form 8938 goes with your tax return when foreign financial assets exceed $50,000 at year-end or $75,000 at any time (single, living in the US), or $200,000 / $300,000 if you live abroad. Both are reports, not taxes — but the penalties for not filing start at $10,000.

Tax is national. This page describes the federal rules in the United States for tax year 2026. Most states add their own income tax on top, so there is never one single US rate. If you live and pay tax in another country, the rules are different — see the flags below.

How it works

What counts. Bank accounts, brokerage accounts, most foreign pensions and funds, and accounts you merely have signature authority over. A Danish or German brokerage account holding US stocks is a foreign account.
Add them all up. The $10,000 FBAR threshold is the total of all foreign accounts at their highest point in the year — three accounts of $4,000 each trigger it.
Two forms, two agencies. The FBAR goes to FinCEN (Treasury), not the IRS, and not with your return. Form 8938 goes to the IRS with your return. Many people must file both.
Living abroad raises the 8938 thresholds but does not change the FBAR one.
Foreign funds are PFICs — a separate, worse problem. See PFIC.
Penalties. A non-willful FBAR miss can cost $10,000+ per year; willful ones far more. There are voluntary disclosure programmes for catching up.

The worked example

You are a US citizen working in Denmark with a Danish bank account (peak $12,000) and a Danish brokerage account (peak $30,000). FBAR: required — $42,000 > $10,000. Form 8938: not required this year — $42,000 is below the $200,000 threshold for someone living abroad. Move back to the US with the same accounts, and the 8938 threshold drops to $50,000 — still just under, but close.

Figures for 2026 from irs.gov (Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and IR-2025-111), checked September 2026. Your state may tax the same income again. Kiggo does not calculate your tax — your broker reports to you on Form 1099, and the IRS, your state and a tax professional decide.

Kiggo says: FBAR and FATCA are the IRS's way of asking "and what do you have overseas?" — every year, in writing, with expensive consequences for silence.

The typical beginner's mistake

An American abroad who files a US return every year but never an FBAR, because "the account is just my local bank". Ten years of missed FBARs is a five-figure problem even when no tax was ever owed.

How you see it in Kiggo

Kiggo's portfolio shows gain and loss on the purchases you enter yourself. It is not connected to your real accounts and does not know where they are held. It does not file forms or calculate your tax.

Frequently asked questions

What is the FBAR threshold?

An aggregate value of more than $10,000 in all foreign financial accounts at any time during the calendar year. File FinCEN Form 114 electronically by 15 April; the extension to 15 October is automatic.

What is the Form 8938 threshold?

Single, living in the US: foreign financial assets over $50,000 at year-end or $75,000 at any time. Married filing jointly: $100,000 / $150,000. Living abroad: $200,000 / $300,000 (single) or $400,000 / $600,000 (joint). Source: irs.gov comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR.

Is a US brokerage account holding foreign stocks a foreign account?

No. What matters is where the account is held, not what is in it. Apple shares in a Copenhagen account are foreign; Novo Nordisk shares in a New York account are not.

Kiggo explains — Kiggo does not advise. We never tell you what to buy or sell, and key figures can only be compared between companies in the same industry. The decision is yours. Last updated 2026-09-22.

Written by Claus Frisch, founder of Kiggo. Not an adviser, not a bank — Kiggo explains, you decide.