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Part IV, Form 8938 (Excepted Specified Foreign Financial Assets)
Part IV, Form 8938 & Excepted Financial Assets
Form 8938 is required is for certain US Persons with specified foreign financial assets. As far as the Form 8938 form is concerned, Part IV is one of the shortest parts of the form — and does not require too much analysis as other parts. The idea behind Part IV of Form 8938 is to allow the Taxpayer the ability to identify what other forms they are filing with respect to assets that would otherwise be required to be reported on Form 8938 – so they do not have to duplicate the assets on Form 8938. In other words, if a Taxpayer files one of these other international information reporting forms to disclose an asset that would have otherwise required to be reported on Form 8938 — then generally did they do not have the file Form 8938 as to the specific asset as well. But, the Internal Revenue Service wants the Taxpayer to identify which other reporting forms they filed in the current year for the assets(s). Let’s review the basics of Part IV of Form 8938.
Part IV Excepted Specified Foreign Financial Assets
As provided by the IRS as to Part IV of Form 8938:
If you reported specified foreign financial assets on one or more of the following forms, enter the number of such forms filed. You do not need to include these assets on Form 8938 for the tax year.
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Number of Forms 3520
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Number of Forms 3520-A
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Number of Forms 5471
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Number of Forms 8621
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Number of Forms 8865
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Form 8938/FATCA IRS Amnesty Programs
The Form 8938/FATCA Amnesty Programs are programs developed by the Internal Revenue Service to assist Taxpayers who are already out of compliance for non-reporting.
Some of the more common programs include:
Can I Just Start Filing Form 8938 This Year Instead?
No, unless the current year is the first year you had a Form 8938 Reporting requirement. If you had a prior year reporting requirement, but only begin to start filing in the current year (Filing Forward) it is illegal. In the world of offshore disclosure, this is referred to as a Quiet Disclosure. The IRS has warned taxpayers that if they get caught in a Quiet Disclosure situation, it may lead to willful penalties and even a criminal investigation by the IRS Special Agents.
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