Fill Form 8865 Filers 2024

Hello Anthony and hello Claudine. We are continuing our FATCA series and we've talked a lot about what FATCA is. FATCA stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. We are going to touch on FATCA Form 8938 a little bit more today and in the future as it can be quite complicated for those who are unfamiliar with it. In simple terms, FATCA is a federal law that requires all US taxpayers, even those living outside of the US, to report their non-US financial accounts yearly. It is not a tax, but rather a reporting requirement. It specifically targets foreign financial assets, which includes not only financial accounts but also a variety of other assets. In our last video, we discussed the differences between the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Program (SDOP) and the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) in terms of penalty basis. Today, we wanted to talk about the different types of specified foreign assets and what it means to report them. This is important because failure to report a specified foreign asset can lead to penalties in the streamlined disclosure penalty base. Now, let's dive into the different types of specified foreign assets that are required to be reported on Form 8938. First, financial deposit and custodial accounts held at foreign financial institutions need to be reported. This is similar to the requirements of an FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts). Additionally, financial accounts held at a foreign branch of a US financial institution, as well as financial accounts held at a US branch of a foreign financial institution, are also subject to reporting. If you have signature authority over a foreign financial account or asset, you are required to report it, unless any income, gains, losses, deductions, credits, gross proceeds, or distributions from holding or disposing of...