Both Form 8938 and the FBAR ask you to disclose foreign financial holdings, and many people have to file both in the same year. But they come from different laws, go to different agencies, use different thresholds, and cover slightly different assets. Filing one has no effect on your obligation to file the other.
Side-by-side comparison
| Form 8938 | FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing law | FATCA (2010) | Bank Secrecy Act (1970) |
| Filed with | The IRS, attached to your tax return | FinCEN, via the BSA E-Filing System |
| Threshold | $50,000+ (varies by status & residency) | $10,000 aggregate, one flat figure |
| Who is covered | Specified individuals & specified domestic entities | U.S. persons, including entities |
| Signature authority only? | Generally not reportable | Reportable |
| Foreign stock held directly | Reportable | Not reportable (no "account") |
| Foreign real estate (directly held) | Not reportable | Not reportable |
| Deadline | Tax return due date (Apr 15 / Oct 15) | Apr 15, automatic extension to Oct 15 |
| Higher threshold for expats? | Yes — much higher | No — flat $10,000 regardless of residency |
The clearest way to remember the difference
The FBAR is about foreign accounts and triggers at a low, flat $10,000. Form 8938 is broader — it also reaches foreign stock and entity interests held outside an account — but it triggers at much higher, status-dependent thresholds, and it's part of your tax return rather than a separate filing.
Where they overlap
A foreign bank or brokerage account you own is the classic example of something reportable on both forms. If you have a $120,000 foreign brokerage account as a single U.S. resident, you're over the FBAR's $10,000 line and over Form 8938's $75,000 any-time line — so both apply. You report the same account in two places, on two different timelines, to two different agencies.
Where they diverge
- Signature authority: An account you can sign on for your employer, without any ownership, generally triggers an FBAR but not Form 8938.
- Directly held foreign stock: Foreign shares held in your own name outside a brokerage account are reportable on Form 8938 but not the FBAR — there's no account for the FBAR to capture.
- Thresholds and residency: An American abroad with $150,000 in foreign accounts is over the FBAR line but may be well under Form 8938's $200,000 overseas threshold.
For the genuinely tricky edge cases — foreign pensions, jointly-owned assets, and entity-held accounts — see our deep-dive article: Form 8938 vs. FBAR: A Side-by-Side Deep Dive.
Don't assume "I filed one" means "I'm done"
The most common and costly misconception in this whole area is treating the two as interchangeable. They are not. If your facts point to both, you need to file both — the penalties for each are assessed independently.
Next steps
- Reporting Thresholds — pin down your Form 8938 numbers
- Who Must File — confirm you're a specified person
- The deep-dive article — the edge cases where the two regimes really split