A US LLC must file FinCEN Form 114 (the FBAR) when its non-US financial accounts exceed $10,000 in combined value at any point in the calendar year — even when its owner is a non-resident who personally files nothing. The LLC is a "US person" under FBAR rules because it was formed under US law. This is the FBAR fact that foreign owners most often get exactly backwards, and the penalties for getting it wrong start at five figures.
Key facts
- Threshold: $10,000 aggregate across all foreign accounts, at any moment in the year — not year-end balance (FinCEN: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts).
- Filed electronically with FinCEN (BSA E-Filing System) — not with the IRS, not with a tax return.
- Due April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15 — no form needed for the extension.
- Non-willful penalty: up to $16,536 per report (inflation-adjusted for penalties assessed after January 17, 2025); willful: the greater of $165,353 or 50% of the account balance (IRS: FBAR).
- After Bittner v. United States (2023), non-willful penalties apply per report, not per account.
Who is a "US person" for FBAR? (Read this twice)
FBAR obligations attach to US persons: US citizens, US tax residents, and — critically — entities created or organized under US law, including LLCs, corporations, partnerships, and trusts.
So for a foreign-owned single-member LLC:
- The LLC itself is a US person. If the LLC holds a bank account in your home country, a foreign PayPal/Wise-equivalent institution account, or any non-US financial account, and the $10,000 line is crossed — the LLC files an FBAR.
- You personally, as a non-resident alien, are generally not a US person and do not file a personal FBAR — unless you have become a US tax resident under the substantial presence test or hold a green card.
The trap runs in both directions: owners assume "I'm not American, FBAR isn't my problem" (missing the LLC's duty), or panic-file personal FBARs they never owed.
A worked example: a UK-resident, non-US-citizen owner forms a New Mexico LLC and opens a business account at a bank in London to receive client payments before transferring funds to the LLC's US account. If that London account's balance crosses $10,000 at any point, even briefly, the LLC — not the owner personally — has an FBAR filing duty for that year. The owner's own nationality and residence are irrelevant to whether the LLC itself must file.
What counts toward the $10,000?
All foreign financial accounts aggregated together: bank accounts, brokerage accounts, foreign e-money institution accounts, and certain foreign pension or insurance products with cash value. The test is the highest combined value at any point in the year — a one-day spike over $10,000 during a transfer triggers the filing for the whole year.
Note what does not count: the LLC's US bank accounts (Mercury, Chase, etc.) are domestic, and an account at a US institution is not a foreign account merely because its owner lives abroad. Signature authority without ownership has its own rules — flag it in a professional review. Signature authority is its own, separate category: a US person with signature or other authority over a foreign account — even one they don't own — can have an independent FBAR duty for that authority alone, reported on different lines than an owned account. This comes up when a US-resident co-founder or employee has authority over an LLC's foreign account without being an owner; it's worth a professional review rather than assuming ownership is the only trigger that matters.
How and when to file
FinCEN Form 114 is filed online through the BSA E-Filing System (bsaefiling.fincen.gov) or by a preparer with Form 114a authorization on file. It reports each account's institution, account number, and maximum value during the year (converted to USD at Treasury year-end rates).
- Deadline: April 15, 2026 for calendar year 2025.
- Automatic extension: to October 15, 2026 — granted to everyone, no request required (FinCEN filing information).
There is no tax computed on an FBAR — like Form 5472, it is pure information reporting, and like Form 5472, that does not make it optional.
A preparer can file on the LLC's behalf using Form 114a, a separate authorization that isn't submitted with the FBAR itself but must be retained by both the filer and the preparer — this is how most LLCs that use an accountant for FBAR compliance actually get the report filed, rather than the owner filing it directly through the BSA system.
Penalties, precisely
| Violation | Maximum civil penalty (2026) |
|---|---|
| Non-willful (per unfiled report) | $16,536 |
| Willful (per year) | Greater of $165,353 or 50% of account balance |
Two clarifications worth money:
- Bittner (Supreme Court, 2023): non-willful penalties are assessed per report, not per account — five unreported accounts on one missed FBAR is one penalty, not five.
- "Willful" includes reckless disregard, not just intent. Ignoring a known filing duty for years drifts toward willfulness; an honest miss corrected promptly does not.
Missed years are typically fixable through delinquent FBAR submission procedures — filing the late reports electronically with an explanation statement, before FinCEN or the IRS makes contact. The reasoning mirrors Form 5472 penalty abatement: voluntary, documented, complete.
FBAR vs Form 8938 (FATCA) — don't conflate them
The FBAR goes to FinCEN under the Bank Secrecy Act. Form 8938 goes to the IRS with an income tax return under FATCA, with different (higher) thresholds and a different filer definition. Most foreign-owned LLCs deal only with the FBAR; Form 8938 becomes relevant mainly for US tax residents. One does not satisfy the other — some filers owe both. (Definitions for both are in the glossary.)
The practical difference that matters most for this audience: Form 8938 is filed by the taxpayer, attached to their own income tax return, and only applies to US persons with significant foreign financial assets — a category most foreign-owned LLC structures never reach unless the owner independently becomes a US tax resident. The FBAR's $10,000 threshold is far lower and applies to the LLC itself regardless of the owner's residency, which is why far more foreign-owned LLCs have an FBAR duty than an 8938 duty. Our full comparison of the two walks through the thresholds side by side for anyone who could plausibly owe both.
Recordkeeping the FBAR itself requires
Filing isn't the only obligation. FinCEN requires keeping records of each reported account — the institution's name, the account number, and the maximum value — for five years from the filing due date. In practice, bank statements covering the relevant year are the easiest way to satisfy this, and they double as exactly the evidence needed if a delinquent filing or examination ever requires reconstructing a prior year's maximum balance after the fact.
Frequently asked questions
My LLC banks only with a US fintech (e.g., a US-based account). Does it file an FBAR? If the LLC's only accounts are at US institutions, no — those are domestic accounts. The FBAR concerns foreign financial accounts. Check where the account-holding institution is actually chartered; some fintechs place accounts at non-US partner banks.
I'm a non-resident. Do I personally file an FBAR for my LLC's foreign account? Generally the filing obligation is the LLC's, filed in the LLC's name. You would file personally only if you are yourself a US person (citizen, green-card holder, or substantial-presence resident).
Is there a penalty if I file the FBAR late but before anyone contacts me? FinCEN's delinquent submission path exists precisely for this. Late reports filed voluntarily with a reasonable explanation — where the income was otherwise properly reported — are routinely accepted without penalty, though no outcome is guaranteed.
Does the FBAR go to the IRS with my Form 5472? No. FinCEN Form 114 is filed separately, electronically, with FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System. It never attaches to the pro-forma 1120 package.
Written by Ifetoluwase Samuel Pirisola, Managing Director of Caldwell Tax Services, LLC — July 2026. General information, not tax advice. We check the FBAR question in every engagement — it takes one intake question to ask and five figures to ignore. Start here.
Sources: FinCEN: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts · IRS: FBAR · Glossary