# Do I need to tell bank I am American?



## Michael.S (Jul 8, 2016)

Hi all, 

I am a U.S. and Austrian citizen and I have been living in Austria for almost 10 years now. I am aware of FATCA and of my filing duties regarding the FBAR and form 8938 and I have filed both for my Austrian bank account. 

I was recently talking with a friend and he said to me that many European banks are pushing out U.S. account holders and that I am lucky I have an Austrian citizenship. This got me thinking… When I opened my account in Austria I used my Austrian citizenship and I was never asked by the bank if I was American. As far as the bank knows I am only Austrian. 

As I mentioned above, I have filed my FBAR and 8938 accurately for this account so I have fulfilled my IRS/Treasury filing duty. 

My question is: 

Am I breaking any IRS tax law by not informing my Austrian bank I am American? This question is purely from the American perspective. Because I file my taxes and my FBAR and 8938 I am up to date with my FATCA filings. I just don't want my Austrian bank to give me trouble if I tell them I am American and I don't want the IRS to think I am hiding something by not informing my Austrian bank I am American…phew…confusing!! 

I have done a lot of googling but have found nothing about whether American's have a U.S. legal obligation to inform their foreign bank they are American? I am hoping some of you can help me find clarity with this question. I value informed opinions but I am really hoping for some fact based answers. 


Thank you for taking the time to read this.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

No, the whole "inform your bank" thing is basically a CYA for the banks, which are under their own set of rules about reporting information to the IRS/FinCen. As long as you are reporting your accounts as you are supposed to be doing, your obligation has been fulfilled. Let the bank worry about their own obligations.

Technically speaking, the banks should be doing a "due diligence" search of their records to determine if any of their customers have, for example, a US birthplace (assuming they maintain this information on a routine basis) that would indicate they have US citizenship. But even that depends on the individual bank (some banks are exempt from the reporting requirements for various reasons).

But, it's interesting that you have dual Austrian/US nationality. Normally, Austria doesn't let you have dual nationality - I'm betting you were born a dual (the only instance I know of where you can keep both).
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Michael.S said:


> Am I breaking any IRS tax law by not informing my Austrian bank I am American?


To my knowledge you're not breaking any U.S. laws, tax-related or otherwise. I don't know of any legal obligation to volunteer information about your citizenship(s) to your bank.

It's probably a crime under Austrian law to lie to your bank. (At least that wouldn't be surprising.) If you haven't and don't do that, no problem. If your bank ever asks then, under most legal systems, you have two legal options: decline to answer or answer truthfully.


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