2013 Tax - Married filing jointly + foreign bank account

[a+j 77]

Hi everyone,

I really hope someone can point me in the right direction. My husband and I are filing taxes for 2013 and are a bit stuck at this point. Here's the background.

I am the foreign beneficiary, arrived to the US on a K1 in mid January 2013, got married in February, filed for AOS immediately, started working on EAD in August, got my GC in October.

My husband - the USC - is using TurboTax to file our taxes. We want to file married filing jointly.

1) First problem: how do we answer the question "have you resided abroad in 2013?". My husband has always resided in the US. However, on January 1, 2013 I was still residing in Italy, as I moved to the US 2 weeks later.

2) I own an Italian bank account which exceeded $10,000 in 2013. It is not jointly owned with my husband. How do we report it?

Thank you so much for taking your time to help!

Edited March 19, 2014 by a+j

[Merrytooth 5,748]

I could only answer your Qn2.

For Foreign accounts/assets, if total values of the assets greater than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, you have to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR)

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900813-report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-on-form-td-f-90-22-1-or-fincen-form-114

Since you have > $10,000 in your Italian Bank account, you have to report it.

The form itself, has an section Part II "Information on Financial Account(s) owned Separately", so you only fill up this section since the foreign bank account is not jointly owned.

Another form you might be interested to take note of, is Form 8938, "Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets.

For married filed jointly, if the total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $100,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $150,000 at any time during the tax year, you must file Form 8938.

See this link

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Comparison-of-Form-8938-and-FBAR-Requirements

And you have to report interests earned from foreign accounts in Schedule B Line 1.

[a+j 77]

I could only answer your Qn2.

For Foreign accounts/assets, if total values of the assets greater than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, you have to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR)

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900813-report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-on-form-td-f-90-22-1-or-fincen-form-114

Since you have > $10,000 in your Italian Bank account, you have to report it.

The form itself, has an section Part II "Information on Financial Account(s) owned Separately", so you only fill up this section since the foreign bank account is not jointly owned.

Thank you so much! Do you know what happens after I report it? Will we have to pay taxes on it?

Edited March 29, 2014 by a+j

[Merrytooth 5,748]

You don't have to pay taxes for filing FBAR. US govt just want to keep track of your foreign assets/accounts.

But if you are earning interests from the foreign account, you have to report it in Tax return Schedule B line 1 form.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1273023-where-to-report-foreign-interest-1040-or-another-form

[christeen 966]

You don't have to file taxes on it, just file... There is a section that addresses living abroad, if you put the dates in, it will calculate the tax if you had foreign earnings