Very quick FBAR question

[swji89 41]

So, I had two accounts in the UK which will need reporting for 2015 because the sum total came to over $10,000. However, one of them was an ISA I shut down (transferring the money into my current/checking account before the move) meaning that the highest amount in my current account included the money that was in my ISA. Do I just report the current account with the grand total that was in it, or separately the current account with said highest amount, and the highest amount the ISA got to individually?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I got a little lost in your description.

Do you mean you had an account at one bank, and as part of that account there was a savings bit? So you want to know if you report

1) Bank XYZ

London, UK

account #1234

$12,000

Or

1) Bank XYZ

London, UK

account #1234

$8,000

2) Bank XYZ

London, UK

account #1234a

$4,000

I think it depends on if they were separate accounts. If it was all in the same bank, same address, and same general account number, then I think you are fine reporting all of it together. The point being you are not hiding any money or location.

[swji89 41]

Thinking about it more, the form asks for maximum account value so I think I know the answer. However, what i was saying is that if they are interested in total amount over $10,000 in foreign accounts, how does this work in my case which is as follows (I'll use example amounts for ease):

I had a checking/current account which, before transferring the money from my savings account into it, had a maximum of, say, $3000.

My savings account had a height of $7,000. However, when I transferred the money from the savings into the current account that had $10,000 and the savings $0.

Declaring the highest amount in both might look like I have $10,000 plus $7,000 which is more than I actually had in total. Or does this not matter?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Thinking about it more, the form asks for maximum account value so I think I know the answer. However, what i was saying is that if they are interested in total amount over $10,000 in foreign accounts, how does this work in my case which is as follows (I'll use example amounts for ease):

I had a checking/current account which, before transferring the money from my savings account into it, had a maximum of, say, $3000.

My savings account had a height of $7,000. However, when I transferred the money from the savings into the current account that had $10,000 and the savings $0.

Declaring the highest amount in both might look like I have $10,000 plus $7,000 which is more than I actually had in total. Or does this not matter?

It doesn't really matter because it's only a report. I see your point but I don't think it matters if they think you had 10k or 17k as long as you tell them you had a foreign account. So in reality following the instructions, the savings account had 7k as the highest balance and checking had 10k highest balance during 2015. I think they are probably more interested in the person who had 7 million in an account and won't spend any time looking at your report.

[swji89 41]

Thanks!