A threshold screen, not a filing determination. Three answers cannot establish whether a specific account is reportable; the full checker and the account's own terms can.
The FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is a U.S. reporting form for non-U.S. financial accounts. It is separate from your tax return and is filed electronically with FinCEN. It's informational — but missing it carries real penalties, which is why it trips up so many Americans in Switzerland.
When does an American in Switzerland have to file an FBAR?
Generally, when the combined value of your non-U.S. financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year — not the year-end balance, the peak. Swiss bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and many pension-related accounts can count toward that total.
A common mistake: assuming no single account was "big enough". The threshold is the combined peak across all your accounts.
What counts toward the threshold
Swiss bank accounts (checking, savings)
Swiss brokerage / investment accounts
Certain pension and vested-benefits accounts
Accounts where you have signature authority, even if not the owner
What to prepare
Gather each account's institution, account number, and the maximum balance during the year. The Switzerland tax checklist lists exactly what to collect.
Swiss accounts that are easy to miss
Pillar 3a accounts — a bank 3a account, or a 3a held with a foundation such as VIAC or finpension, is generally reported as a separate account. See pillar 3a for US citizens.
Vested benefits accounts (Freizügigkeitskonto / compte de libre passage) — pension money parked between jobs sits in an account with a bank foundation and is generally reported. See vested benefits.
Rent deposit accounts (Mietkautionskonto) — a blocked deposit account in your name at a bank is still an account, even though you cannot touch it until you move out.
PostFinance and neobanks — a PostFinance savings account next to the private account, a Neon, Yuh or Revolut account: each with its own IBAN is its own FBAR line.
Pension fund (pillar 2) — whether an occupational pension interest is a reportable account is a narrower question; see pillar 2 and the FBAR.
Francs, dates and what the bank already reports
Convert each account's highest balance from francs at the Treasury Reporting Rate of Exchange for 31 December, the rate FinCEN's instructions point to. The FBAR is due on 15 April with an automatic extension to 15 October, and it is filed with FinCEN, not with your tax return.
Swiss banks report accounts held by US persons under Switzerland's FATCA arrangements with the United States, so the account is already known to the US side. If years were missed, compare the routes on FBAR penalties before filing anything late.
Authorities cited
31 CFR §1010.350 — 31 CFR §1010.350 — FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) filing requirement and $10,000 threshold
31 U.S.C. §5314 — 31 U.S.C. §5314 — Statutory basis for the FBAR (foreign financial account reporting)
IRS Form 8938 — About Form 8938 — Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
Primary sources (Cornell Legal Information Institute for the US Code and CFR; IRS.gov for forms, procedures, and treaty documents). This page is general information, not individualized tax or legal advice.
Atamatax provides tax preparation support and educational resources. This website does not constitute legal or tax advice.
No. The FBAR (FinCEN 114) is filed with FinCEN and has a $10,000 combined threshold, while FATCA's Form 8938 is filed with your tax return and has higher thresholds. Many people have to file both.
The FBAR generally isn't required for a year in which your combined non-U.S. accounts never crossed $10,000 at any point. If you're unsure, the free Tax Risk Check can help you think it through.
Established catch-up pathways exist for non-willful taxpayers, and the right one depends on your facts. Atamatax provides preparation support; this is not legal advice.
If you want the return and the account reporting prepared
Which route fits depends on a few facts, not on the balances. These are the common situations and the route the same rules give each one. Nothing is charged until you generate a package or accept a written quote.
Returns up to date, accounts over the thresholds, no non-US funds
Simple · $299 · Self-service software
The threshold is met and no non-US fund is in play: the Simple package prepares the return with the FBAR and Form 8938 logic inside it.
›What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
A draft filing package for one tax year: Form 1040 and the supported schedules, Form 1116 inputs, FBAR/Form 8938 threshold logic and filing instructions — with every assumption disclosed.
The Atamatax engine prepares a draft package from the figures you enter and confirm. No person prepares it.
Nobody at Atamatax reviews it before you download it. A package generated with an open gap is stamped DRAFT — INCOMPLETE and lists what must be resolved, and every assumption is listed for you, or a professional you choose, to check.
You file — the return with the IRS using the package's instructions, the FBAR on FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System — or a professional you engage files for you. Atamatax transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN.
Every return was filed; only the FBARs were missed
Simple · $299 · Self-service software
Your returns appear current and only FBARs were missed. Late FBARs are filed with FinCEN directly, with the reason for filing late and a reasonable-cause statement, so the annual package covers the return side. The threshold is met and no non-US fund is in play: the Simple package prepares the return with the FBAR and Form 8938 logic inside it.
›What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
The Atamatax engine prepares a draft package from the figures you enter and confirm. No person prepares it.
Nobody at Atamatax reviews it before you download it. A package generated with an open gap is stamped DRAFT — INCOMPLETE and lists what must be resolved, and every assumption is listed for you, or a professional you choose, to check.
You file — the return with the IRS using the package's instructions, the FBAR on FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System — or a professional you engage files for you. Atamatax transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN.
Non-US funds mean Form 8621 wherever a holding is a PFIC. The PFIC package screens each one from its domicile and drafts the form only where it applies.
›What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
Everything in Simple plus up to 25 supported Forms 8621 — line-mapped worksheets until independent validation of the official PDFs completes — with QEF / mark-to-market / §1291 inputs per holding, fund-domicile classification with confidence shown, and the assumption log — for one tax year.
The Atamatax engine prepares a draft package from the figures you enter and confirm. No person prepares it.
Nobody at Atamatax reviews it before you download it. A package generated with an open gap is stamped DRAFT — INCOMPLETE and lists what must be resolved, and every assumption is listed for you, or a professional you choose, to check.
You file — the return with the IRS using the package's instructions, the FBAR on FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System — or a professional you engage files for you. Atamatax transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN.
Streamlined Essential · $1,590 · Done-with-you case preparation, scoped first
Wages, pensions or bank accounts with no non-US funds is the standard catch-up scope: three returns, six FBARs, and the certification package.
›What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
A Streamlined Foreign Offshore preparation package: up to three delinquent returns and six FBAR years as worksheets mapped to each year's official forms (official pre-filled PDFs only for tax year 2025), a document completeness check, the Form 14653 organiser, and filing instructions — one scoped quote, one payment.
A CPA or Enrolled Agent from the Atamatax team, assigned according to your case (its forms, countries and complexity), prepares the three returns, the six FBAR years and the Form 14653 organiser from your documents, against the written scope, with the engine computing the figures, and signs as paid preparer. They are named on your case once they accept. If no professional has been assigned 7 days after payment, you choose between waiting and a full refund. You write your own statement of facts.
The CPA or Enrolled Agent assigned to your case reviews and answers for the work they sign; a person at Atamatax checks the file is complete before it reaches you.
You mail the returns to the IRS as the Streamlined instructions direct, and file the FBARs on FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System. Atamatax transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN.
When a professional's judgment is needed. Missed years beyond the FBARs, a foreign pension whose US treatment is unsettled, or an IRS letter about the accounts are read by a person before a route is chosen — the account reporting is the easy part; what the accounts earned is the part that needs judgment.
In every route the signatures and the filing stay with you or the accountant you choose; nothing is filed on your behalf. Written questions to hello@atamatax.com reach a person — we aim to reply within one business day. Who does what in each route.
Free preliminary result · a few questions
See which foreign-account filings may apply to you
The FBAR and Form 8938 have different thresholds, different definitions and different penalties. A few questions show which one — or both — your accounts point at, and what else rides along.
Enter each account's highest balance as a band. The checker runs the FBAR aggregate and the Form 8938 threshold for your filing status and where you live, and says which form — or both — the numbers point at. Free, no account.