Foreign Accounts and Information Reporting
Learn the decision pattern the exam can test, then apply it to a realistic taxpayer fact pattern.
What changes the answer?
FBAR is filed with FinCEN, while Form 8938 is attached to a federal income tax return; one filing does not replace the other.
A tax-practice scenario
A U.S. taxpayer owns foreign accounts and an interest in a foreign entity. Map each asset to every potentially required information return.
Identify the taxpayer, entity, transaction, and tax period first. Write the controlling tests in order, apply only the relevant facts, and keep the reporting result separate from any planning recommendation.
Do not take this shortcut.
Applying one dollar threshold or one definition of financial interest to all foreign reporting forms.
Turn the rule into recall.
Use a reporting matrix that separates form, filer, asset, threshold, due date, and destination.
- ExplainState the governing distinction without notes.
- ApplyChange one fact in the scenario and predict the new result.
- RetrieveAnswer an unseen question, then review every option.
Official source and scope
This lesson follows the current PSI content outline and uses the IRS reference below for the underlying tax or practice framework. Always confirm current forms, instructions, thresholds, and effective dates before advising a taxpayer.