Are joint accounts reportable on FBAR?

Yes, joint accounts are reportable on FBAR. If you are a US person and you jointly hold a foreign financial account with another person — whether that person is your spouse, family member, business partner, or anyone else — you must report the full value of the account on your FBAR.

Each US person who has a financial interest in or signature authority over a joint account must file their own FBAR reporting that account. This means that if both you and your spouse are US persons and share a joint foreign bank account, you both must file separate FBARs (or a joint FBAR, as explained below), each reporting the full value of the account.

The IRS provides a special rule for spouses: if all your foreign accounts are jointly owned with your spouse and you file a joint FBAR, only one filing is needed. To file jointly, both spouses must sign the FBAR (Form 114a, Record of Authorization to Electronically File FBARs, can be used for this purpose). However, if either spouse has any separately owned foreign accounts, both spouses must file their own individual FBARs reporting all of their accounts — both joint and individual.

For joint accounts held with a non-US person (such as a foreign spouse who is not a US resident), only the US person is required to file FBAR. You must report the full value of the joint account, not just your proportional share. The non-US person has no FBAR obligation.

The full value of the joint account counts toward your $10,000 aggregate threshold. You cannot divide the balance proportionally to stay below the threshold. If a joint account had a maximum value of $15,000 during the year, each US person on the account includes $15,000 in their aggregate calculation.

Joint accounts with elderly parents or business accounts where you have signature authority also trigger FBAR reporting obligations, even if you do not own the funds in the account.