Introduction Most Americans who discover their US filing obligation focus immediately on the tax returns. The FBAR — and the FATCA statement — often get treated as an afterthought. That is a mistake. Within IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance, the FBAR is one of the most consequential documents in the entire submission. Six years of delinquent […]
Most Americans who discover their US filing obligation focus immediately on the tax returns. The FBAR — and the FATCA statement — often get treated as an afterthought.
That is a mistake. Within IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance, the FBAR is one of the most consequential documents in the entire submission. Six years of delinquent FBARs must be filed. Every qualifying account must appear. The highest balance during the year — not the year-end balance — must be reported for each account.
Getting the FBAR wrong does not simply produce an inaccurate document. It undermines the non-wilfulness certification and leaves the statute of limitations open indefinitely on every return to which the missing or incorrect FBAR relates.
This guide explains exactly what the FBAR covers, how it differs from Form 8938, which UK accounts qualify, and how to get both right within the Streamlined submission. Contact Jungle Tax at https://www.jungletax.co.uk/ for specialist guidance.
IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance refers to the IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures — the voluntary compliance route for non-wilful non-filers who live outside the United States. The program requires three years of US federal income tax returns and six years of FBAR filings. Both the returns and the FBARs must be complete and accurate. An incomplete FBAR — one that omits qualifying accounts or uses incorrect balance figures — undermines the entire submission.
The FBAR and the FATCA statement serve different purposes. The FBAR is a financial crimes disclosure — it goes to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, not the IRS. Form 8938 is a tax disclosure form — it is filed with the IRS along with the federal return. Both may be required for the same accounts, and both carry separate penalties for non-compliance. A specialist adviser files both correctly as part of a complete IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance submission.
The FBAR penalty for non-wilful non-compliance reaches $10,000 per account per year. Six years of two unreported UK accounts creates a maximum theoretical exposure of $120,000. The Streamlined program waives this penalty entirely — but only for a complete and accurate submission. An FBAR that omits an account does not obtain the waiver for that account.
Form 8938 carries a separate penalty of $10,000 for failure to file, rising to $50,000 if the failure continues after IRS notification. A complete IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance submission includes Form 8938 for every year in which the FATCA threshold was met.
The IRS guidance on FBAR requirements is published at:
This guide covers US citizens and permanent residents living in the UK who are completing — or preparing to complete — a Streamlined submission. It also covers those who have already filed FBARs but are unsure whether every qualifying account was included or whether the correct balance figures were used.
UK financial institutions now report account data for US persons to HMRC annually under FATCA. HMRC passes that data to the IRS. The IRS matches it against filed FBARs and federal returns. An account that appears in FATCA data but not in the FBAR creates a visible discrepancy — precisely the kind of discrepancy that triggers IRS examination of a Streamlined submission.
Every account reported to HMRC under FATCA must appear on both the FBAR and Form 8938 where the thresholds are met. A Streamlined submission that omits any account for which the IRS already has data is not complete.
The single most common FBAR error in Streamlined submissions is using the year-end account balance instead of the highest balance during the year. The FBAR requires the maximum value of each account at any point during the calendar year — not the balance on 31 December.
A UK current account that received a salary payment of £15,000 in November and was largely spent by December has a peak balance of £15,000 — even if the year-end balance is £2,000. The FBAR must report £15,000. Reporting £2,000 understates the required disclosure and creates an accuracy risk.
Our related guide on what happens after the Streamlined submission explains the ongoing FBAR obligation after the catch-up is complete.
A UK ISA and a SIPP are foreign financial accounts for FBAR purposes. Both must appear on the FBAR if the aggregate balance of all foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year. Many Americans living in the UK report their current and savings accounts on the FBAR but omit their ISAs and SIPPs entirely — because they think of them as pension or savings vehicles rather than financial accounts. This is a material omission.
A foreign financial account is any financial account held at a foreign financial institution. For Americans in the UK, this includes: UK current accounts, UK savings accounts, UK Stocks and Shares ISAs, UK Cash ISAs, UK SIPPs, UK investment accounts held at brokerage firms, UK offshore bonds, and any other account held at a UK-regulated financial institution.
The FBAR threshold is aggregate — not per account. If the combined maximum value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year, every account must be reported, regardless of the individual account balance. A taxpayer with five UK accounts, each peaking at £2,500 during the year — a combined peak of £12,500 — must report all five accounts on the FBAR.
The peak balance for FBAR purposes is the maximum account balance at any point during the calendar year. For sterling accounts, the balance is converted to US dollars using the Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange for 31 December of the relevant year. For accounts that hold securities or funds — such as a Stocks and Shares ISA or a SIPP — the peak value is the highest market value of the account during the year, not just the cash balance.
Obtaining peak balance data requires reviewing monthly or quarterly account statements — not just year-end statements. UK investment platforms and banks do not typically provide a single peak balance figure. The adviser requests the relevant statements, identifies the peak balance for each month, and uses the highest of those balances over the 12 months.
Form 8938 is the FATCA statement filed with the US federal return. It covers specified foreign financial assets — a broader category than the FBAR. For a UK-resident single filer, Form 8938 is required if the total value of specified foreign financial assets exceeded $200,000 at the end of the year or $300,000 at any point during the year. For married filing jointly, the thresholds are $400,000 and $600,000, respectively.
Form 8938 covers: all accounts reported on the FBAR, plus foreign stocks and securities not held in a financial account, foreign partnerships, foreign trusts, and other foreign financial instruments. A SIPP and an ISA both appear on Form 8938 where the thresholds are met. The penalties for a missing Form 8938 — $10,000 rising to $50,000 — are separate from the FBAR penalties and apply independently.
The Streamlined submission requires six years of FBARs and three years of federal returns — including Form 8938, where applicable. The FBAR covers six years; Form 8938 covers only the three return years. For the three overlapping years, the same accounts appear on both forms. The values must be consistent. An account showing a peak balance of $85,000 on the FBAR must not show a different value on Form 8938 for the same year.
A specialist preparing an IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance submission reconciles the FBAR and Form 8938 data across the three overlapping years before finalizing the submission.
The adviser begins by identifying every foreign financial account the client held during the six FBAR years. This inventory goes beyond the obvious current and savings accounts. It includes every ISA, every SIPP, every investment account, every offshore bond, and any other account held at a UK financial institution. The adviser asks specifically about accounts that may have been closed during the period — closed accounts still require FBAR reporting for years in which the aggregate balance exceeded the threshold.
For each account, the adviser requests monthly or quarterly statements for the full six-year period. Year-end statements alone are insufficient. The adviser reviews every statement to identify the highest balance for each account in each calendar year.
Sterling balances are converted to US dollars using the Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange published by the US Treasury for 31 December of each year. These rates are available at the IRS website and are updated annually. The adviser applies the correct exchange rate for each year — not a single current rate across all six years.
For investment accounts — ISAs and SIPPs holding funds or equities — the adviser identifies the highest market value of the account during the year, not just the highest cash balance. This requires reviewing portfolio valuations across the year, not just account statements.
The IRS guidance on FBAR filing deadlines and procedures is published at:
The FBAR is filed electronically through the FinCEN BSA E-Filing System — not with the IRS and not with the federal return. The Streamlined submission includes all six FBARs filed through this system. Each FBAR covers one calendar year and lists every qualifying account, including the account number, the financial institution’s name and address, and the maximum value during the year.
Form 8938 is prepared for the three return years covered by the Streamlined submission. The adviser confirms whether the FATCA threshold was met in each year. Where the threshold was met, Form 8938 is included with the federal return for that year. The account values on Form 8938 are reconciled with the FBAR peak balances for the overlapping years. The FinCEN BSA E-Filing System is available at:
https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html
David is a US citizen. He has been a UK resident for eight years. When he approached Jungle Tax to prepare a Streamlined submission, he listed four UK accounts: a Barclays current account, a Barclays savings account, a Stocks and Shares ISA with Vanguard, and a SIPP with a major pension provider.
He had not filed any FBARs for any of the eight years. His initial assumption was that the FBAR covered only his current account — he had not considered the ISA or the SIPP as reportable.
Jungle Tax reviewed monthly statements for all four accounts across the six FBAR years. The current account received monthly salary payments — its peak balance each year was significantly higher than the year-end balance. In two years, the year-end balance was under $10,000, but the peak balance during the year exceeded the threshold due to a mid-year bonus payment.
The Stocks and Shares ISA had grown from approximately £28,000 to £74,000 over the six years. Its peak value each year exceeded the year-end value in three of the six years due to market fluctuations. The SIPP had a peak value of approximately £180,000 in the most recent FBAR year.
All four accounts appeared on all six FBARs. Peak balances were used for each account each year. Form 8938 was included on the three federal returns — the FATCA threshold was exceeded in all three years because the combined value of the ISA and SIPP alone exceeded $200,000.
The complete Streamlined submission — with six correctly prepared FBARs and three years of federal returns, including Form 8938 — was filed without examination. The maximum theoretical FBAR exposure on four accounts across six years was $240,000. The Streamlined submission eliminated this exposure.
Contact our IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance team at hello@jungletax.co.uk or 0333-8807974 if you are unsure whether all your UK accounts have been correctly included in your FBAR.
This is the most common FBAR error in Streamlined submissions. The FBAR requires the highest value of each account at any point during the calendar year. Year-end statements do not provide this figure. Monthly or quarterly statements are required. An adviser who uses year-end balances produces an understated FBAR, undermining the accuracy of the submission and creating examination risk.
A UK ISA and a SIPP are foreign financial accounts for FBAR purposes. Many Americans omit them entirely — because they do not think of a pension or savings wrapper as a financial account. An ISA with a balance of £80,000 is a reportable foreign financial account. A SIPP with a balance of £200,000 is a reportable foreign financial account. Both must appear on the FBAR for every year in which the aggregate balance threshold was met.
An account that was closed during one of the six FBAR years still requires reporting for any year in which it was open, and the aggregate balance threshold was met. Many clients assume that closed accounts do not need to be reported. This is incorrect. The adviser asks specifically about accounts closed during the six years and includes them where the threshold was met in the year of closure.
Form 8938 is separate from the FBAR and carries separate penalties. A Streamlined submission that includes six FBARs but omits Form 8938 from the federal returns for years when the FATCA threshold was met is incomplete. The adviser assesses the Form 8938 obligation for each of the three return years and includes the form where required.
The IRS guidance on Form 8938 and specified foreign financial assets is published at:
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/corporations/foreign-financial-asset-reporting
The FBAR and Form 8938 cover the same accounts for the three overlapping years. The values must be consistent. A discrepancy — where the FBAR shows a peak value of $95,000 for an account and Form 8938 shows a different figure for the same account in the same year — invites scrutiny. The adviser reconciles both documents before the submission is finalized.
Jungle Tax is a specialist US-UK cross-border tax advisory firm whose team includes IRS Enrolled Agents and UK-qualified tax practitioners with specific experience in IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance submissions and FBAR and FATCA reporting for Americans in the UK. We conduct a full account inventory at the outset of every Streamlined engagement — identifying every qualifying account across all six FBAR years, including ISAs, SIPPs, investment accounts, and any accounts closed during the period. We request monthly or quarterly statements for each account to determine the peak balance for each year. We convert sterling balances to US dollars using the correct Treasury exchange rates for each year. We file all six FBARs electronically through the FinCEN BSA E-Filing System and include Form 8938 on the federal return for each year in which the FATCA threshold was met. We reconcile the FBAR and Form 8938 values for overlapping years before finalizing the submission. You can find further information on our website at https://www.jungletax.co.uk/ or read our guide to IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance — avoiding double taxation on investment income. Contact our team at hello@jungletax.co.uk or call 0333-8807974 today.
The FBAR and Form 8938 are not afterthoughts within IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance. They are central to the submission — and getting them wrong undermines the penalty protection the program provides.
Three points matter most. First, the FBAR requires peak balance figures — not year-end balances. Monthly statements are needed for every account across all six years. Second, UK ISAs and SIPPs are foreign financial accounts for FBAR purposes. Many Americans omit them entirely. Third, Form 8938 is separate from the FBAR and carries separate penalties. A complete Streamlined submission includes both for every year where the applicable thresholds are met.
Speak to a Jungle Tax adviser today — contact us at hello@jungletax.co.uk or visit https://www.jungletax.co.uk/ to learn more.
The FBAR — FinCEN Form 114 — is an annual report of all foreign financial accounts where the aggregate balance exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. It is a financial crimes disclosure filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, not with the IRS. The IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures require that six years of delinquent FBARs be included with the submission. Filing all six FBARs correctly — with accurate peak balances for every qualifying account — is essential to obtain the penalty waiver the Streamlined program provides.
Yes. A UK ISA — whether a Cash ISA or a Stocks and Shares ISA — is a foreign financial account for FBAR purposes. If the aggregate maximum value of all your foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year, every account must be reported, including the ISA. Many Americans in the UK omit the ISA entirely from their FBARs because they consider it a savings or investment vehicle rather than a financial account. This is a material omission that a specialist adviser identifies and corrects.
The FBAR — FinCEN Form 114 — is a financial crimes disclosure filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It covers foreign financial accounts where the aggregate balance exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year. Form 8938 is a tax disclosure filed with the IRS as part of the federal return. It covers specified foreign financial assets — a broader category — and applies different thresholds: $200,000 at year-end or $300,000 at any point for a single UK-resident filer. The same accounts may appear on both forms. Both carry separate penalties for non-compliance, and both are required in a complete Streamlined submission for years in which the applicable thresholds are met.
The peak balance is the highest value of the account at any point during the calendar year — not the year-end balance. To calculate it accurately, the adviser reviews monthly or quarterly account statements for the full twelve-month period and identifies the highest balance across all statements. For sterling accounts, the peak balance is converted to US dollars using the Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange for 31 December of the relevant year. For investment accounts — such as ISAs and SIPPs — the peak value is the highest market value of the account during the year, which requires reviewing portfolio valuations across the year.
Yes. A UK Self-Invested Personal Pension is a foreign financial account for FBAR purposes. It must appear on the FBAR for any year in which the aggregate balance of all foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year. The value reported is the highest market value of the SIPP during the calendar year — not just the year-end figure. Many Americans omit the SIPP from their FBARs because they assume pension accounts are exempt. They are not. A specialist adviser identifies the SIPP as a reportable account and includes it in all six FBARs within the Streamlined submission.
If prior FBARs omitted qualifying accounts, the submissions were incomplete. An incomplete FBAR does not obtain the full penalty waiver for the omitted accounts. Within a Streamlined submission, the adviser prepares corrected FBARs for all qualifying accounts — including any previously omitted. The corrected FBARs replace the incomplete versions. A specialist adviser reviews all prior FBARs at the outset of a Streamlined engagement to identify any omissions before the submission is finalized.
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