IRS form 8938 and final salary pensions

I have a question regarding UK final salary pensions and IRS form 8938. In short, does one report UK final salary/defined value pension (deferred or active) on form 8938?

I know this has been discussed in the past on a few threads within this forum in addition to a few others I visit.  I just wanted to see what the feeling is now with forum readers.

Here is my experience.  I am American by birth and have lived in the UK for 25+ years.  I am currently retired with a deferred final salary pension.  Within my US returns, I only used the exclusion of foreign income route on form 2555.  In the past two years, I have had my US taxes done by two different IRS enrolled tax agents.  Both come from well recognized firms in London.  All credentials checked and all agents have been recommended to me by at least 2 independent sources.  These sources being banks or investments houses either in the UK or in the US that have used these individuals in the past.

The outcome has been one including an 8938 and one not including an 8938.  The two camps are as follows:
(a.)   The “submit every form approach”.   One advisor took the approach that any IRS form that might have a slight bearing on my situation should be submitted.    I always ask the agents why a decision was made to include a form like 8938 in my return to help me understand the process better.  The reply I get doesn’t involve a deep discussion of the IRS guidance notes for completing the form in question or feedback from a high powered conference they just attended on US expat taxes.  Nope.  Just more or less “why not “submit it followed by I can’t really give you a definitive reason and anyway “It can’t hurt” to do it.

(b.)   The treaty approach.  One tax preparer from a very well-known London firm did take the time to explain his/her position and surprisingly it was not the “submit every form approach”.  He/She  gave my deferred final salary pension a value at £0 based on 5(18) of the 2001 US/UK tax treaty.  This allowed me to be under that 8938 threshold.   An 8833 was included to state paragraph 5 article 18 was being used along with a page long discourse defending this approach.

This disparate advice I have received from established IRS enrolled agents on this issue has surprised me a bit and has inspired me to seek what other pathways have been given to forum readers or just what other pathways you have decided to use. 

Looking to my 2017 return, I have begun talking to several potential preparers in London and one of the questions I ask is their position on 8938.  Most now seem to be in camp (a.). 

My answer to the question in your first sentence is that it entirely depends on the value of your foreign assets and your filing status.
 
There are two separate issues and I use the instructions for 8938 as my guide:

Determine whether you need to submit 8938. For this purpose "if you do not know or have reason to know based on readily accessible information..." the value of the pension is zero or the sum of the distributions for that year.

If you do need to submit 8938, because the total value of your assets meets the requirement, include the pension in the listing even if the value is zero, or (if applicable) enter the value as the sum of the distributions.

My answer to the question in your first sentence is that it entirely depends on the value of your foreign assets and your filing status.
 
There are two separate issues and I use the instructions for 8938 as my guide:

Determine whether you need to submit 8938. For this purpose "if you do not know or have reason to know based on readily accessible information..." the value of the pension is zero or the sum of the distributions for that year.

If you do need to submit 8938, because the total value of your assets meets the requirement, include the pension in the listing even if the value is zero, or (if applicable) enter the value as the sum of the distributions.

This is my approach. For 2017 I will be submitting form 8938 for the first time since we exceeded the filing threshold briefly when transferring a large sum for the US to our U.K. Bank to buy a house.

I have 2 U.K. final salary pensions which have always been reported on substitute 1099-R forms in my IRS filings.