Source from IRS
What are the specified foreign financial assets that I need to report on Form 8938?
If you are required to file Form 8938, you must report your financial accounts maintained by a foreign financial institution. Examples of financial accounts include: Savings, deposit, checking, and brokerage accounts held with a bank or broker-dealer.
And, to the extent held for investment and not held in a financial account, you must report stock or securities issued by someone who is not a U.S. person, any other interest in a foreign entity, and any financial instrument or contract held for investment with an issuer or counterpart that is not a U.S. person. Examples of these assets that must be reported if not held in an account include:
- Stock or securities issued by a foreign corporation;
- A note, bond or debenture issued by a foreign person;
- An interest rate swap, currency swap, basis swap, interest rate cap, interest rate floor, commodity swap, equity swap, equity index swap, credit default swap or similar agreement with a foreign counterpart;
- An option or other derivative instrument with respect to any of these examples or with respect to any currency or commodity that is entered into with a foreign counterpart or issuer;
- A partnership interest in a foreign partnership;
- An interest in a foreign retirement plan or deferred compensation plan;
- An interest in a foreign estate;
- Any interest in a foreign-issued insurance contract or annuity with a cash-surrender value.
Specific Examples:
Cash or foreign currency, real estate, precious metals, art and collectibles
1/ I directly hold foreign currency (that is, the currency isn't in a financial account). Do I need to report this on Form 8938?
Foreign currency is not a specified foreign financial asset and is not reportable on Form 8938.
2/ Does foreign real estate need to be reported on Form 8938?
Foreign real estate is not a specified foreign financial asset required to be reported on Form 8938. For example, a personal residence or a rental property does not have to be reported.
If the real estate is held through a foreign entity, such as a corporation, partnership, trust or estate, then the interest in the entity is a specified foreign financial asset that is reported on Form 8938, if the total value of all your specified foreign financial assets is greater than the reporting threshold that applies to you. The value of the real estate held by the entity is taken into account in determining the value of the interest in the entity to be reported on Form 8938, but the real estate itself is not separately reported on Form 8938.
3/ I directly hold tangible assets for investment, such as art, antiques, jewelry, cars and other collectibles, in a foreign country. Do I need to report these assets on Form 8938?
No. Directly held tangible assets, such as art, antiques, jewelry, cars and other collectibles, are not specified foreign financial assets.
4/ I directly hold precious metals for investment, such as gold, in a foreign country. Do I need to report these assets on Form 8938?
No. Directly held precious metals, such as gold, are not specified foreign financial assets. Note, however, that gold certificates issued by a foreign person may be a specified foreign financial asset that you would have to report on Form 8938, if the total value of all your specified foreign financial assets is greater than the reporting threshold that applies to you.
5/ This tax year I sold precious metals that I held for investment to a foreign person. Do I have to report the sales contract on Form 8938?
The contract with the foreign person to sell assets held for investment is a specified foreign financial asset investment asset that you have to report on Form 8938, if the total value of all your specified foreign financial assets is greater than the reporting threshold that applies to you.
Foreign stocks or securities
1/ I acquired or inherited foreign stock or securities, such as bonds. Do I need to report these on Form 8938?
Foreign stock or securities, if you hold them outside of a financial account, must be reported on Form 8938, provided the value of your specified foreign financial assets is greater than the reporting threshold that applies to you. If you hold foreign stock or securities inside of a financial account, you do not report the stock or securities on Form 8938. For more information regarding the reporting of the holdings of financial accounts, see FAQs 8 and 9.
2/ I directly hold shares of a U.S. mutual fund that owns foreign stocks and securities. Do I need to report the shares of the U.S. mutual fund or the stocks and securities held by the mutual fund on Form 8938?
If you directly hold shares of a U.S. mutual fund you do not need to report the mutual fund or the holdings of the mutual fund.
Safe deposit box
I have a safe deposit box at a foreign financial institution. Is the safe deposit box itself considered to a financial account?
No, a safe deposit box is not a financial account.
