Table of contents:
FBAR reporting options in TFX
The FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is a required report for U.S. citizens and residents who hold non-U.S. financial accounts (including retirement and zero-balanced financial accounts) that, in the aggregate, exceed certain thresholds. It must be submitted to the U.S. Treasury.
Did you know? You can file your FBAR directly through TFX. CPA involvement is no longer needed! Learn more about FBAR filing service: Request, manage, and e-file.
TFX is designed to adapt to your filing needs. Depending on your situation, you can:
Complete one standard tax questionnaire (TQ) to file both your tax return and FBAR for the same year.
Create and complete an FBAR Only tax questionnaire (TQ) if you are not required to file a tax return for that tax year.
Create 3 standard TQs and 3 FBAR Only TQs if you need to file under the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures program and catch up on missed tax returns (3 tax years) and FBAR (6 tax years) filings.
❗ Important note: our system allows only one TQ per year. If you already have a standard tax questionnaire for a year, you cannot create a separate FBAR Only TQ for that same year. Instead, add the "Non-US Financial Accounts" section to your existing tax questionnaire.
Scenario 1: Filing a tax return and FBAR for the same year
If you need to file both a tax return and an FBAR, you must include the "Non-US Financial Accounts" section in your tax questionnaire. Here is how to do it:
How to create a new tax questionnaire and add the "Non-US Financial Accounts" section
Go to the Tax questionnaires page in your TFX portal.
Click Create New Questionnaire (or Add tax year if you have existing TQs).
Select One year and choose the tax year.
Click Next step.
Indicate whether you were a U.S. citizen, Green Card holder, or none of the above and whether you lived in the U.S. or abroad during the selected year.
⚠ Note: your answers here only help the system create one of the TQ types with questions that match your residency status. You can change the TQ type later if needed.
Click Move to tax questionnaire.
Choose whether to import data from a previous TQ or start fresh.
Select whether you want to file a personal tax return or both personal and non-personal tax returns, and click Next step.
Answer all Yes/No questions and select Yes next to the statement: I own or have signature authority over non-U.S. financial accounts.
Click Next step to generate the tax questionnaire.
Navigate to the "Non-US Financial Accounts" section and complete it with your FBAR details.
How to add the "Non-US Financial Accounts" section to an existing tax questionnaire
Go to the Tax questionnaires page in your TFX portal.
Click on the tax year to open your existing TQ.
Navigate to Life & Income > Income Sources and select Yes next to the statement: I own or have signature authority over non-U.S. financial accounts.
The "Non-US Financial Accounts" section will be added.
Complete this section with the required FBAR details.
Scenario 2: Filing FBAR only (without a tax return)
If you are not required to file a U.S. tax return but must file an FBAR, you can create an FBAR Only tax questionnaire (TQ). This is a short version of our standard TQ, which gathers information about your non-U.S. bank accounts, regardless of their balances. The FBAR only TQ consists only of four sections:
The Basics: questions about you (and your spouse if your are filing jointly).
Where I live: questions about your place of residence.
Non-US Financial Accounts: questions about your non-U.S. financial accounts.
Notes.
How to create a new FBAR Only tax questionnaire
Go to the Tax questionnaires page in your TFX portal.
Click Create New Questionnaire (or Add tax year if you have existing TQs).
Select One year and choose the tax year.
Click Next step.
Provide your citizenship and residency status and click Move to tax questionnaire.
Choose whether to import data from a previous TQ or start fresh.
Select Yes next to the statement: I am looking for individual tax preparation, and select No next to the statement: I am looking for tax preparation for business or entity.
Click Next step.
Answer the question about your marital status and select Yes next to the statement: I own or have signature authority over non-U.S. financial accounts.
Click Next step to generate the standard tax questionnaire.
To change the TQ type to FBAR Only, click the Gear ⚙ button at the left.
Click Change TQ Type and select FBAR only.
Click Save.
How to convert an existing tax questionnaire to FBAR Only
If you have created a standard tax questionnaire (TQ) but need only FBAR reporting:
Go to the Tax questionnaires page in your TFX portal.
Click on the tax year to open your TQ.
click the Gear ⚙ button at the left.
Click Change TQ Type and select FBAR only.
Click Save.
Scenario 3: Streamlined Procedures – Catching up on past filings
If you haven't filed U.S. taxes for six or more years but need to catch up, you may qualify for the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, which requires:
3 years of tax returns (Standard TQs with "Non-US Financial Accounts" sections).
6 years of FBAR reports (FBAR Only TQs).
For detailed information on which years to file, please refer to Streamlined Procedures: Which years to file?
How to create 3 standard TQs and 3 FBAR Only TQs for 6 tax years simultaneously
Go to the Tax questionnaires page in your TFX portal.
Click Create New Questionnaire.
Select More than one year.
Click Yes under the question: Are you behind on filing 6 or more years?
Click "I like it - let's proceed" and then Next step.
Provide your citizenship and residency status in the most recent tax year.
If your citizenship and residency status changed during the other tax years, click ⚙ Modify next to other tax years.
If your citizenship and residency status changed during the other tax years, select the "Same as above" checkbox.
Once done, click Move to tax questionnaire.
Answer the Yes/No questions about the most recent tax year and click Next step.
Complete the most recent tax year questionnaire.
For other tax years, you can import data from the already completed tax questionnaire.
Note: no need to manually enter all data! You can copy responses from a previous year’s TQ and simply update the necessary information, such as new or closed accounts, balance updates, and uploaded documents. Be sure to review all answers carefully after importing to ensure everything is accurate.
If you have any questions, contact our Customer Success team!