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Schedule B Line 7: Foreign Accounts and FBAR (2025)

Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Line 7 is the foreign accounts question in Part III of Schedule B. Line 7a asks two yes or no questions: whether you had a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, and whether you must file FinCEN Form 114. Line 7b lists the countries. There is no dollar amount to copy from a statement.

Form lines read one part at a time: Form 3520 Part I, Form 3520 Part II and Form 3520-A.

What line 7 asks for

Part III begins with a rule on who completes it: “You must complete this part if you (a) had over $1,500 of taxable interest or ordinary dividends; (b) had a foreign account; or (c) received a distribution from, or were a grantor of, or a transferor to, a foreign trust.”

Question 1 of line 7a reads “At any time during 2025, did you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a financial account (such as a bank account, securities account, or brokerage account) located in a foreign country?” Question 2 applies only if you answer Yes to Question 1: it asks whether you are required to file FinCEN Form 114, and line 7b asks you to list the countries. Line 8, on foreign trusts, is covered at Schedule B line 8.

Where the number comes from (line 7 is a yes or no answer)

For Question 1 the instructions say to check the Yes box “if at any time during 2025 you had a financial interest in or signature authority over a financial account located in a foreign country.” They add that you check the Yes box “even if you aren’t required to file FinCEN Form 114.”

A financial account is defined broadly: “A financial account includes, but isn’t limited to, a securities, brokerage, savings, demand, checking, deposit, time deposit, or other account maintained with a financial institution”. Where it is located matters too: “A financial account is located in a foreign country if the account is physically located outside of the United States.” The instructions give this example: “an account maintained with a branch of a U.S. bank that is physically located outside of the United States is a foreign financial account.”

For signature authority, the instructions say “Don’t consider the exceptions relating to signature authority in answering Question 1 on line 7a.” For Question 2 they say to check the Yes box “if you are required to file the form.” and to check the No box “if you aren’t required to file the form.”

The FBAR threshold and Form 8938

The instructions state the filing rule this way: “A U.S. person that has a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts must file the form if the aggregate value of foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during 2025.” A separate form can apply as well: “Regardless of whether you are required to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR), you may be required to file Form 8938”. The two rulebooks are compared on the FBAR versus Form 8938 page and Form 8938 itself is on the Form 8938 page.

Line 7b and where it goes next

Line 7b is a list of countries. The instructions say “If you are required to file FinCEN Form 114, list the name(s) of the foreign country or countries in the space provided on line 7b.” If the space is short, “Attach a separate statement if you need more space.”

Line 7 does not feed a total on the schedule. The next step is outside the return: if you checked the Yes box to Question 2, the instructions say “you must electronically file FinCEN Form 114”. They also say “Do not attach FinCEN Form 114 to your tax return.” For the due date, the instructions point to “For the due date and more information about FinCEN Form 114”. Timing is also covered on the FBAR deadline page. The consequence the instructions describe is “If you are required to file FinCEN Form 114 but don’t properly do so, you may have to pay a civil penalty up to $10,000.”

The return this schedule attaches to is explained on the Form 1040 page, and the schedule as a whole is on the Schedule B (Form 1040) page.

Edition and line numbers

This page reads the 2025 Schedule B (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-18. They are byte-identical to the archived copies and they are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040 or 1040-SR.” Schedule B has its own instructions booklet, titled “Instructions for Schedule B” (Form 1040). Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s schedule, because a different year’s schedule can number or word its lines differently.

Common mistakes

  • Answering No because no FBAR is due. The instructions say to check the Yes box “even if you aren’t required to file FinCEN Form 114.”
  • Attaching the FBAR to the return. The instructions say “Do not attach FinCEN Form 114 to your tax return.”
  • Using the signature authority exceptions on Question 1. The instructions say “Don’t consider the exceptions relating to signature authority in answering Question 1 on line 7a.”

Related: Schedule B (Form 1040), FBAR versus Form 8938, Form 8938, and FBAR deadline.

Sources

Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.

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