# Are pensions required to be reported on FBAR?



## byline (Dec 5, 2011)

I started paying into my employer's pension plan last year. The IRS makes no mention of pensions on its FBAR page, and says this:



> But, you don’t need to report foreign financial accounts that are:
> 
> Correspondent/Nostro accounts,
> Owned by a governmental entity,
> ...




Yet other pages I'm reading say that pension accounts must be reported on an FBAR. So who is correct?


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## Nivie (Apr 22, 2021)

byline said:


> I started paying into my employer's pension plan last year. The IRS makes no mention of pensions on its FBAR page, and says this:
> 
> 
> 
> Yet other pages I'm reading say that pension accounts must be reported on an FBAR. So who is correct?


I used to report my employee pension but as I did not know the value, I recorded it as $0. I now receive distribution and income from this pension and report this income on my tax return and FBAR. Not sure if I have to but 
as I have to report FBAR every year anyway for other accounts it only takes a minute to add the information and no future worries should I get audited.


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## byline (Dec 5, 2011)

Nivie said:


> I used to report my employee pension but as I did not know the value, I recorded it as $0. I now receive distribution and income from this pension and report this income on my tax return and FBAR. Not sure if I have to but
> as I have to report FBAR every year anyway for other accounts it only takes a minute to add the information and no future worries should I get audited.


I'm not receiving any dividends or income from the pension, but am simply paying in to it with the plan to draw the income after I retire. So my question is, should the pension account I'm currently paying in to be reported as a financial account on my FBAR?


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## byline (Dec 5, 2011)

In the absence of any definitive answer to my question (here and elsewhere), I went ahead and reported the balance from my 2021 year-end statement on my FBAR. It was just one more field to fill out.


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

@byline -- Not that it really matters, as the FBAR is only an information return, but I've read in the past, that @Nivie filed correctly. In other words, in your case, if you are not drawing anything, then the plan is reported with a $0.00 value. Cheers, 255


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## byline (Dec 5, 2011)

255 said:


> @byline -- Not that it really matters, as the FBAR is only an information return, but I've read in the past, that @Nivie filed correctly. In other words, in your case, if you are not drawing anything, then the plan is reported with a $0.00 value. Cheers, 255


Ah, OK. Well, not sure of what to do, I did it incorrectly. It may make a difference next year if I also have to submit Form 8938 ... and it looks like I'm approaching that point. But, if I understand that form correctly, it is like the FBAR in that it is only a reporting form, albeit one that goes to the IRS.


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

@byline -- I wouldn't do anything with last years reporting. Just report it with a zero balance for next year. It actually doesn't go to the IRS, it goes to FinCEN, another branch of the U.S. Treasury. Since you are not drawing yet -- there are no taxes involved, so the IRS wouldn't care anyway. Cheers, 255


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## byline (Dec 5, 2011)

255 said:


> @byline -- I wouldn't do anything with last years reporting. Just report it with a zero balance for next year. It actually doesn't go to the IRS, it goes to FinCEN, another branch of the U.S. Treasury. Since you are not drawing yet -- there are no taxes involved, so the IRS wouldn't care anyway. Cheers, 255


Oh yeah, I'm not going to resubmit it based on that error. It's a small balance, anyway. I will just report it as 0 going forward, until I start drawing from that account. I know that the FBAR goes to FinCEN; that's why I made the reference to Form 8938, which goes to the IRS. If I understand correctly, Form 8938 is only a reporting form, same as the FBAR, but they go to two different agencies. Thanks for your help!


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