Updated July 29, 2026. Quick answer: They are not two versions of one requirement. The FBAR comes from the Bank Secrecy Act at 31 U.S.C. §5314; Form 8938 comes from IRC §6038D. Different statutes, different agencies, different definitions of what counts — and you can owe both for the same account. Also: the FBAR dollar threshold is in 31 CFR §1010.306(c), not in §1010.350, which is the rule almost every secondary source cites for it.
Where each rule actually lives
| FBAR | Form 8938 | |
|---|---|---|
| Authority | 31 U.S.C. §5314; 31 CFR §1010.350 | IRC §6038D |
| Dollar threshold lives in | 31 CFR §1010.306(c) | §6038D(a) |
| The figure | Aggregate above $10,000 | A $50,000 statutory base, expressly subject to increase |
| Filed with | FinCEN | Your income tax return |
| Reaches | Foreign financial accounts | Specified foreign financial assets, a wider category |
The threshold citation, since it is the point. 31 CFR §1010.306(c) provides that “Reports required to be filed by §1010.350 shall be filed with FinCEN … with respect to foreign financial accounts exceeding $10,000” maintained during the previous calendar year. Section 1010.350 says who must report; §1010.306(c) carries the amount. Sources routinely attribute the $10,000 to §1010.350, which does not contain it.
Why this page states no deadline, and the reason is worth knowing. The text of §1010.306(c) as published still reads “on or before June 30 of each calendar year”. That is the pre-change date; the filing deadline was moved by later legislation and the regulation was never conformed. Quoting the regulation would state a stale deadline, and paraphrasing it would state one this page has not verified. So: no date here. Take the deadline from the current filing instructions, and treat any page confidently quoting a date from this regulation with suspicion.
The $50,000 is a floor with an escalator attached
IRC §6038D(a) requires the §6038D information where the aggregate value of specified foreign financial assets “exceeds $50,000 (or such higher dollar amount as the Secret[ary prescribes])”. The parenthetical is the operative part for anyone living abroad, because higher tiers have been prescribed by regulation and this page does not state them — the statutory base is what the statute gives, and the tiers live elsewhere.
Both, not either. The two regimes overlap without aligning. A single foreign bank account can be reportable on the FBAR and again on Form 8938, and satisfying one does nothing for the other. The categories differ too — §6038D reaches assets, which is broader than the FBAR’s accounts.
What is reportable and what is taxable are separate questions. On the taxable side, the 3.8% surtax is the one credits cannot reach, and sourcing turns on whether you actually pay tax where you live.
Sources
31 U.S.C. §5314; 31 CFR §1010.350 and §1010.306(c); IRC §6038D(a) and (b). Fetched July 2026. No filing deadline is stated on this page — see the note in the text for why.
This states what the cited authority says. It is not tax, legal or investment advice. Cross-border tax turns on your citizenship, your tax home, the country you move to and any treaty between it and the United States — none of which a page can see. No filing deadline is stated here; deadlines change and the current instructions govern.