This is probably for US citizens...

I have a Bangkok Bank account (USA citizen) and last year filed an FBAR (forgot how I found out why/how)... I didn't pay any fee last year.

I just looked this year and it mentions I have to enter the maximum amount I had in the account (even if for 1 day). I had about $21k for a few weeks (just sold a motorycle and waiting to buy another but in early 2026).

When I get to the end of the form.. it says I need to make a payment of $327.

This is some sort of tax?

Is it new?

I seem to recall I had more in my account last year but never paid a fee.

Thanks!

There is no fee for filing FBAR. I've done it yearly since 2016. You may owe a penalty for some reason. Look to see if there's a phone number you can call to ask them about it. Good luck.

There is no payment required for filing fincen form 114 (FBAR).

The forms are found here and you can file here online as well: https://www.fincen.gov/report-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts

If you are using a different website or form from somewhere else, it may be a scam.

Wow thanks... I am pretty tech literate and missed that. Found it in Google ... https://fbarfiling.us.com/

Obviously fake...and even sponsored on Google search.

FBAR-FinCEN114 can be a pain. The PDF offline form must be completed in Adobe Reader only and using their online application is clunky.

I have no problem with the process but I worry about my wife's ability to file on her own after I am gone as she needs to file to maintain her Social Security survivor benefit.

I have recommended that she use a paid service - the one we will transition into is Greenback that is only $125 for up to five accounts.

19 minutes ago, mudcat said:

FBAR-FinCEN114 can be a pain. The PDF offline form must be completed in Adobe Reader only and using their online application is clunky.

I have no problem with the process but I worry about my wife's ability to file on her own after I am gone as she needs to file to maintain her Social Security survivor benefit.

Is she considered a US person ...

... "Who Files: Only "U.S. Persons" (citizens, green card holders, resident aliens) must file." ... (source link below)

https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/resource-center/forms/fbar/the-fbar-when-and-how-to-report-money-in-foreign-bank-accounts/#:~:text=Who%20files%20an%20FBAR?,$15%2C000%20during%20the%20tax%20year.

I didn't read it, but here's IRS link for FBAR info:

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar#:~:text=a%20financial%20interest%20in%20or,an%20FBAR%20reporting%20these%20accounts.

Yes, she is a naturalized U.S. citizen with Thai bank accounts (my assets are all back in the U.S.). Once I pass and she has turned 60-years old she has ~$2,000 a month survivor benefit so long as she files her SSA-7162 (are you alive form). Failure to file FinCEN114 puts her SSA benefit at risk.

As a Thai person she believe that the Government can be ignored and evaded (she doesn't pay her camer generated traffic tickets).

49 minutes ago, mudcat said:

Yes, she is a naturalized U.S. citizen with Thai bank accounts (my assets are all back in the U.S.). Once I pass and she has turned 60-years old she has ~$2,000 a month survivor benefit so long as she files her SSA-7162 (are you alive form). Failure to file FinCEN114 puts her SSA benefit at risk.

As a Thai person she believe that the Government can be ignored and evaded (she doesn't pay her camer generated traffic tickets).

Obviously she has to file, and I thought it was one of the simplest IRS form I ever filed. Google this, and show her the results, and she may change her mind.

... how many people been penalized for not filing fbar ...

I can understand her not paying camera generated traffic tickets, as she was not obligated to. Thai court ruled against the enforcement of them. BUT ... come the end of this month, they have a new system, and they WILL be enforcing tickets issued after 31 March 2026.

google this for info ...

... thai camera speed tickets to be enforced after 31 march 2026 ...

Actually it is filed with the Treasury not the IRS and there is no automatic extension as there is for expat's tax f1040.

We have been filing them off a spreadsheet but I am not sure if she could/would file on her own.

1 hour ago, mudcat said:

Actually it is filed with the Treasury not the IRS and there is no automatic extension as there is for expat's tax f1040.

We have been filing them off a spreadsheet but I am not sure if she could/would file on her own.

Thanks for the correction, Treasury vs IRS, as I think I've only filed 2 in 25 yrs, last one a few years ago.

Actually, when first here, and kept a deposit 400 or 800k for extensions, I was ignorant about FBAR, and never filed one. Although my address was USA for all USA govt things. They also didn't require so much paperwork when opening a bank account back then either, so not sure how much they knew, if anything was in my account.

Definitely 400k at least for a month or so. Oh well, use monthly deposit now, and take it out before it hits $10k worth.

As you mention it is relatively easy for expats to avoid filing FinCEN114 every year - our situation is my wife's accounts.

As many of us we were unaware of the requirement and its details - we failed to file for my wife's accounts as they all dated to before her green card, but once she obtained her green card they needed to be reported as the combined high balance for each account was greater than $10,000.

We filed under the Treasury's "Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures" which required completing three years of FinCEN114 and three years of amended tax returns - they call it streamlined, but I called it painful - the alternative would be a service which you pay someone else to file for you while you are responsible for a complete reconstruction of both of our financial affairs in Thailand. For us it meant adding her Thai interest earnings to our f1040 and paying additional tax and interest for late filing, creating a new FinCEN114 for each year along with a pleading letter as to why you failed to file. After all this we have decided to stay in compliance as claiming ignorance is now unlikely to fly.

The other requirement is filing f8938 if your balance(s) is greater than the limits (search on f8938 threshold ) to see if it applies to you - the limits are much lower if you are still tax resident in the U.S. in which case you may be subject to penalties. The most likely need to file if you move money into a Thai account to complete a home purchase or construction. One saving grace is that my spouse's income, even with her survivor benefit, will be below her standard deduction which her exempts her from the need to file a stand-alone f8938 unless she moves her inheritances here in the year of my death.

12 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Obviously she has to file, and I thought it was one of the simplest IRS form I ever filed. Google this, and show her the results, and she may change her mind.

... how many people been penalized for not filing fbar ...

I can understand her not paying camera generated traffic tickets, as she was not obligated to. Thai court ruled against the enforcement of them. BUT ... come the end of this month, they have a new system, and they WILL be enforcing tickets issued after 31 March 2026.

google this for info ...

... thai camera speed tickets to be enforced after 31 march 2026 ...

There is no actual statistics about failure to file FinCEN114 but a search "how many penalties were imposed for failing to file FinCEN 114"

comes up with this:

AI Overview

There is no single public statistic detailing the total

number of penalties imposed for failing to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) across all U.S. taxpayers. However, recent court cases and IRS guidance show that FBAR penalties are substantial, frequently imposed, and increasing in scrutiny.

Fedor Tax +2

Following a landmark 2023 Supreme Court ruling, penalties for non-willful violations are generally limited to $10,000 per unfiled report (adjusted for inflation), rather than per account.

Hughes Noff Tax Law +1

Key FBAR Penalty Statistics and Data

• Non-Willful Penalty (2025): The maximum penalty for a non-willful violation is adjusted annually and stands at approximately $16,536 per violation.

• Willful Penalty (2025): For willful violations, the penalty is the greater of $165,353 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation.

• Recent Enforcement: The IRS is increasingly leveraging data analytics to identify non-filers, targeting cases with account balances averaging over $1.4 million for audits in 2024.

• Impact of Bittner v. United States: This 2023 Supreme Court case significantly changed penalty calculations. In that case, penalties were reduced from $2.72 million (calculated per account) to $50,000 (calculated per form) for five years of non-willful violations.

• Example of Willful Penalty: In 2024, a U.S. District Court upheld a $2.9 million penalty for willful failure to report foreign accounts.

  Forvis Mazars US +3

Penalty Avoidance/Procedures
The IRS does not impose penalties if the taxpayer has reasonable cause, or if they use specific procedures (such as the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures) to correct non-willful failures and are not already under audit.

Hughes Noff Tax Law +1

Should you get accosted at your bank to 'invest' here remember:

Possible requirement to file f8621: IRS form f8621 is for U.S. citizens who invest in any foreign mutual funds that are considered PFICs (Passive Foreign Investment Company) because they do not report or withhold earnings to the IRS. Filing f8621 has a low $25,000 asset threshold for individuals and a high tax rate that makes investing in any foreign based mutual funds very tax unfriendly.

This is what I wrote to my wife:

Refuse any and all offers or pressure from Thai bank staff to ‘invest’ with them – it may earn them a commission, but it will give you a headache.

Any website that asks for a fee to lodge an FBAR is a scam, that will probably just steal and sell your data

Like the horrid sites charging hundreds to submit a TDAC. Shame they come up at the top of google searches.

Real shame is people ignorant enough not to know better.

On 3/28/2026 at 8:58 AM, mudcat said:

One saving grace is that my spouse's income, even with her survivor benefit, will be below her standard deduction which her exempts her from the need to file a stand-alone f8938 unless she moves her inheritances here in the year of my death.

...and exempts her from even having to file a tax return (Form1040), meaning no Schedule B filing, required if you have foreign interest -- and where you have to declare whether or not you're subject to the FBAR filing requirement. Thus, she'd not be put in a position to lie about a FBAR requirement, should she decide not to file one...

.....and no standalone Form 8938 is required to be filed, if there's no need to file a Form 1040.

And, presumably, as a dual citizen, her Thai bank account is under her Thai ID, not her US Social Security number. As such, if her account slips over $10,000 at any time, Uncle Sam will never know.

Yes, the penalties for not filing a required FBAR can be severe. But these penalties are in place as a hook to further punish tax cheats and money launderers, as they're not likely to file a FBAR. The IRS -- the enforcers of FBAR filing -- are not interested in law abiding tax filers, who've committed no fraud.

On 3/27/2026 at 5:38 PM, mudcat said:

but I worry about my wife's ability to file on her own after I am gone as she needs to file to maintain her Social Security survivor benefit.

There's no connection between maintaining Social Security benefits and FBAR filing.

My wife would need to hire someone to do her FBAR after my demise, so I told her to forget about it (her bank acct is registered to her Thai ID). Same for doing taxes, where her taxable income will be considerable, but I'll have her over- withhold with considerable margin -- to approximate what she'd have to pay a Bangkok accountant (none here in Chiang Mai). This is all kosher, since if you owe no taxes and you have no self employment income over $400 -- you don't have to file a tax return, if you don't mind donating your over - withholding to Uncle Sam.

No, the wife will have enough to do after I croak. I feel the info I've given her re FBAR and tax filing will sufficiently stand up, to avoid unnecessary hassle -- and any future correspondence from the Feds.

Everyone's situation differs, and the particulars matter.

We have JPMorganChase checking accounts that my wife will use to move her inheritances once the investment accounts have been liquidated. Of course her checking account has her SSA number associated with the wires. The inheritance is directed by my beneficiary statement and the wires will clearly identify our relationship and the exemption under Thai law. The amounts are significant and will clearly disclose to the IRS and possibly the Treasury that she needs to continue to file her FinCEN118 - there is no realistic hope of flying under the radar in her situation. We do work together to prepare and file her FinCEN118 - even so I have encourage her to use a service who will be able to verify the accuracy and completeness of their filing. I no longer keep a triggering balance in my Bangkok Bank account (thanks to my LTR-WP visa so I ordinarily do not file a FinCEN118.

My wife will be receiving a Survivor Benefit of about USD2,100 per month and that will generate a SSA1099, by filing her SSA7162 (are you still alive letter) every year is something she is familiar with as I have her sign and file mine for me as permitted in my Power of Attorney I granted to her.

I fail to see the 'burden' of completing two forms a year in exchange for a substantial inheritance and a lifetime pension is in any way worth tangling with the IRS, Treasury, and/or Social Security.