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Yeah, FBAR is about $10k. FATCA/8938 threshold is $50k last I checked. As an American living abroad, it's kind of annoying. Filing the FBAR only takes a couple

Yeah, FBAR is about $10k. FATCA/8938 threshold is $50k last I checked. As an American living abroad, it's kind of annoying. Filing the FBAR only takes a couple minutes though. You basically enter basic account info (bank, country, etc) and the max balance that it had during the year. It's like half a page. If you are over the $50k threshold and need to file an 8938, you probably have income abroad as well and are already having to pay a tax attorney/accountant to handle your taxes for you. Again, annoying but workable. Honestly, the simple fact that as a US citizen, I always have to file taxes in the US no matter where I live or get my income, is the bigger pain. FBAR/FATCA stuff is like 5% of the total bureaucratic BS that expats have to deal with. The more annoying part of FATCA is that because the banks also have to report back to the IRS, many non-US banks just refuse to allow US citizens to open accounts. That has more of an impact because it limits where you can bank and will affect things like buying property.

kingosticks 7y ago
For an American living abroad the FATCA threshold is much higher, 200k or something. I've (sadly?) never had to file it which I appreciate since I do my own taxes. I've also personally never had a problem getting a bank account in the UK but I was concerned about that when shopping around for a mortgage. But I do appreciate it is worse elsewhere (Spain apparently) and it might get worse in the UK. Plenty of reasons to renounce.
Scoundreller 7y ago
Those are just the easy parts. Things get more complex when you own a non-US ETF or mutual fund. Now you own a passive income trust that’s treated differently, with its own reporting requirements. It can also be a headache to take advantage of your country’s non-retirement tax-advantaged savings programs (e.g.: Canada’s TFSA) Or if you’re a director of a corporation, like being a board member of the building you live in. It’s also headaches for a condominium if a US citizen becomes a board member, which they usually can’t stop because they were voted in. If their old bank didn’t want to deal with US persons, now they have to hang everything over to someone that does.

kingosticks 7y ago

For an American living abroad the FATCA threshold is much higher, 200k or something. I've (sadly?) never had to file it which I appreciate since I do my own taxes. I've also personally never had a problem getting a bank account in the UK but I was concerned about that when shopping around for a mortgage. But I do appreciate it is worse elsewhere (Spain apparently) and it might get worse in the UK. Plenty of reasons to renounce.

Scoundreller 7y ago

Those are just the easy parts. Things get more complex when you own a non-US ETF or mutual fund. Now you own a passive income trust that’s treated differently, with its own reporting requirements. It can also be a headache to take advantage of your country’s non-retirement tax-advantaged savings programs (e.g.: Canada’s TFSA) Or if you’re a director of a corporation, like being a board member of the building you live in. It’s also headaches for a condominium if a US citizen becomes a board member, which they usually can’t stop because they were voted in. If their old bank didn’t want to deal with US persons, now they have to hang everything over to someone that does.