Who must file: “Each United States person who has a financial interest in or signature authority or other authority over a bank, securities, or other financial accounts in a foreign country, which exceeds $10,000 in aggregate value at any time during the calendar year, must report that relationship each calendar year by filing TD F 90-22.1 with the Department of the Treasury on or before June 30, of the succeeding year.”
Here’s my situation:
In Taiwan, you have to open up a bank account with the bank your employer uses for salaries. It just so happens that this “salary bank” does not have a branch anywhere close to where I live. So I usually move a portion of my salary to a different and more accessible bank account and use that until I run out of money. Then, I transfer another lump sum in. The problem is when I do this, both accounts will appear to exceed $10,000 sometime during the year. However, that amount is simply because I transferred my money, not because I’m insanely rich. My question is, what do I do with this tax form? My tax person told me to report all accounts regardless of whether the amount is a duplicate or not. I’m not sure if that is really the right thing to do. Would I be taxed more because it looks like I have a lot of money? Any thoughts on this? Thanks!