About This Site

What this site is

FBAR Reference is a free reference on United States foreign financial account reporting — principally the FBAR, FinCEN Form 114. It exists because the rules are widely applicable, poorly understood, and explained by the government in language written for administrators rather than for the people who have to comply.

Our aim is narrow and we would rather state it plainly than overpromise. We try to explain, accurately and in ordinary English:

• what the FBAR is and where it comes from;
• who has to file one, and who does not;
• which accounts count, how to value them, and how the $10,000 threshold works;
• when and how the report is filed;
• what the penalties are, and what the established routes are for fixing past mistakes.

Every guide ends with links to the primary sources, because the point is to help you read the official material with confidence — not to replace it.

What this site is not

This is the more important half of the page.

• It is not a tax, legal or accounting practice. We do not advise, represent or act for anyone, and we cannot answer questions about your own circumstances.
• It is not affiliated with any government agency. We have no connection with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of the Treasury or any other authority, and we are not endorsed by them.
• It is not a filing service. We do not prepare, review or submit forms, and we never ask for your account details. The FBAR is filed free of charge through FinCEN’s own system.
• It is not a referral business. We do not recommend practitioners, take commissions or receive payment for sending you anywhere.
• It is not a substitute for advice. Where your position is unclear, close to a threshold, or involves past non-compliance, a qualified professional who knows your facts is worth far more than any website.

Who publishes it

FBAR Reference is published by St Fin Corp, a company registered in the United States.

We publish our full company details, address and identifier deliberately. A site explaining a compliance obligation should be willing to say exactly who stands behind it.

How the site is funded

FBAR Reference is free to read and funded by advertising. Advertisements are served in clearly marked slots and are labelled as advertisements. We do not charge for access, operate a paywall, sell subscriptions or sell reader data.

Three commitments follow from that funding model, and we regard them as binding:

1. Advertisers have no influence on editorial content. No advertiser reviews, approves or is shown our pages before publication, and no page is written, altered or removed to suit one.
2. Advertisements are distinguishable from content. They are labelled, placed in defined slots, and never styled to look like navigation, editorial text or a government notice.
3. We do not recommend commercial services. Where we mention that paid preparation services exist, we also state that filing with the government is free.

The detail of how advertising cookies work, and how to decline them, is in our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.

How content is produced and reviewed

Each page is researched against the statute, the regulations, the current form instructions and the agencies’ own published guidance, and carries the date on which it was last reviewed. Where the law is unsettled, or where a rule has been signalled but not yet finalised — the treatment of virtual currency is the clearest current example — we say so rather than presenting a clean answer that may not survive.

Our full process, including how we handle corrections, is set out in the Editorial Policy.

A note on reading dates

FBAR rules change: penalty amounts are adjusted for inflation annually, deadlines are modified by notice, and the treatment of newer asset classes is still developing. Every page here shows a review date. If that date is not recent, treat the page as a starting point for reading the official sources rather than as a current statement of the rules.