Author Topic: FBAR question  (Read 4587 times)

coco1106

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FBAR question
« on: February 08, 2019, 08:48:56 PM »
 

 Hi everyone.

we are dual citizens  usa /cdn ...moving back to Canada next yr, still in the planning stages , i just want to be a bit more education on topics,
 we will be meeting was a crossboarder accountant , but I would like to have some insight for my own self comfort.

I know we have file  fed taxs for ever , and report our foreign accts with IRS and CRS ,

The FBAR is confusing to me I know its says if the amt is 10k usd or more than we report,
but just say we transfer 20k from our usa acct to our cdn acct for our daily living expenses for the whole yr, we pay bills, expenses etc
then we realize we have only have a few thousand $$ in our cdn acct and need more money to be transferred to pay for daily needs, so we transfers another 4k..............would we report 20k on the fbar or would we report 24k
I want to be as transparent as possible.

I think the first yr we will have to report form 8938 when we transfer the funds for our new home in Canada, looking at homes 450k cdn  we will pay off the house in cash.
btw , is it best to transfer the money while we are still in usa or do we inform our bank to usa to transfer the money to Canada once we have found our new home ?????????

we have a home in USA which is paid for, we will sell this home before we move, and this money will pay for our new home in Canada.

sorry for rambling on and on, this is all very new to me, I just want to educate myself before we move, and can be very very intimating, for instance exporting then importing our cars at the boarder !!

 I had no idea..after researching I have a contact already its not  as scary as i first thought, also the whole moving process, again after extensive research I have 3 international movers in my contacts, the list is endless of things to do, but I know it will all be worth it when we move back home to Canada.
The to do list is growing, but I have a yr to go before we move, which may seem way ahead on planning but that is how I go about everything.
 
so please forgive if my FBAR question seems like I have no idea, like I said I am just trying to educate myself, I know the expensive crossborder we hire will know what to do, but its nice having a bit of knowledge.

I have learnt so much from this site, been following  for many years, its one of the main reasons why we paid off the mortgage and own our home paid in full, maxing out 401ks IRAs roths ...therefore making our move back home possible...thank you so much ! 







MustacheAndaHalf

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2019, 10:20:52 AM »
The FBAR is confusing to me I know its says if the amt is 10k usd or more than we report,
I'm not the best source of information, but I believe your report the high water mark of each account.  You report the maximum amount that was in the account for the year.  So if you temporarily had $24k, then it's $24k.  If you have $18k at the end of the year, they still want the $24k number.

You might take a peek at ex-pat websites or "fbar advice" on the web.  There's several lawyers out there providing some free advice in the hope that they might also pick up some clients that way.  I'd say the next step is doing some research, and considering if you want to hire someone to provide advice on your first FBAR filing.

Also worth noting: two accounts with $6k each total to $12k, and trigger the FBAR reporting (for U.S. citizens).  The $10k is across all accounts.

coco1106

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2019, 12:54:19 PM »

   Hi,

 thank you for your input...we will be hiring a cross boarder accountant , i just want to educated myself a bit before we actually move, also so I have some idea what he is talking about, husband said we would transfer more than enough for the whole year, and that is the number we would report, if we ran out of money we would transfer a bit more and add to original max value , he said its better to over report than under report.

thank you for your comments.

coco1106

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2019, 06:55:05 AM »

  Thank you, I think I am over thinking the situation,
 
I am just a bit fuzzy over a certain thing...for instance if we transfer 50k in January , then in 10 months later we decided we another  5k to make it through to the end of the end, a total of 55k would have been deposited in that acct, but the higest value was 50k in january
 would you just file the 50k on the fbar, or file 50k plus the xtra 5k that was added 10 months later...55k

i am just thinking that people could just put 9k in a acct each month, spend it all then deposit another 9k for each month with a total of 108k passing through the acct each for the whole yr, but actually the highest value of the acct at anyone time was 9k??????

coco1106

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2019, 11:40:41 AM »
'
    thank you...yes I am over  thinking everything, and ending up in knots and circles....the highest value of the account is reported,
 I wont even think about this anymore, we are not moving for another year, and I am totally over thinking of every aspect of the move and end up a nervous wreck by the end of the day.

I  have a note book with all my notes and moving contacts..........husband thinks I have lost the plot !!!


btw I love the hiking example, it penny finally dropped after reading that..thank you.
have a lovely day.



coco1106

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2019, 01:58:14 PM »

  Thank you so much for your kinds,
 I do work out each day, its my 'medicine"..I have even researched the nearest ymca to were we are intending to live, looks very nice ,it even as a pool...my ymca is just a little one no pool!

 Its just sometimes its all a bit too much, ..so many little things that you dont even know exist !
but then I think of all the people who move all over the world everyday.
 ours is just a 400 miles from ohio to Ontario Canada which compared to others is just a small move.
I know it will all be worth in the end.

thank you again for your kind words and encouragement.

 

Goldielocks

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2019, 07:59:33 PM »
When you move back to Canada, don't make my mistake...

I did not sell my loss positions before leaving the USA.   When you cross the border for the final time, you ACB resets to the FMV.   

I did not think it was an issue because we were not planning on filing taxable gains in the USA in future, but in hindsight it would have been very easy to sell any loss position first, just in case.

coco1106

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2019, 07:14:03 AM »


    Goldielocks
Thanks , I did mention that to husband , he said he was going to sell any loss positions this year before
 we go back, thanks for reminding me.

there are so many things involved with this move, one of the reasons why I love sharing and reading what others have done, it s a huge help.

thanks.
 

duane

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Re: FBAR question
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2019, 02:36:19 PM »
If anyone is still out there...I heard the FBAR we file is intended to be used merely as ... well, spying. Anyone have a view on this? Just had a talk with a buddy... recommended this site.
Thanks very much in advance.
D

 

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