FBAR without tax return?

I can see from the first pages of the 1040 that I don’t meet the income threshold and do not have to file.  And there wouldn’t be any benefit in filing, no refunds or anything.  But if one tossed the 1040 aside at that point (and why wouldn't they?), they would never see Schedule B and thus would never find out about the FBAR.

I only found about the FBAR recently.  Do I have to file the 1040  only because of the FBAR?  I know they’re separate, that the FBAR goes to the Treasury, not the IRS.  Or, can I just file the FBAR but no tax return?  (Interest is way below the threshold as well.)  OR, does it work like FATCA, in that if you don't have to file a return, you don't have to file FATCA either, even if you're above the threshold?

This might not be such an uncommon situation:  a (mostly) dependent spouse but with joint bank accounts.  Yet I've looked all over, on here and other sites and can't quite find a question or answer that fits.

I was in your exact same situation last year, and I emailed a question to the IRS help line.  The thread is somewhere on here, dated approximately one year ago.

The answer is, if you are below the tax threshold, you do not have to file a 1040, but you do have to file Schedule B, and complete the bottom section that asks about foreign bank accounts.  I sent mine in that way last year, with a note explaining my financial situation (married to NRA, joint bank accounts) and eventually got a note back saying that they had filed it with my previous 1040s.

Many thanks, Chanah (although it wasn’t necessarily the answer I was hoping for...).  I found your old posts about this question.   So, to make sure I have it right:  I file Schedule B about the foreign account(s), as well as FBAR?  (Not just Schedule B?)

The other little snag is that I should have been doing this for the last couple of years.  From other tax information, it sounds as if I can just send in the three Schedule Bs at the same time, and they will be accommodating. 

But what about sending in three FBARs?  Will it be okay with them?  That part makes me a little nervous. 

Just my personal opinion here, some may well disagree, but I would file anyway. The statute of limitations will then begin to run, so you know you're safe after three years in most cases from audit. If you have to file a Schedule B anyway, why not file the 1040 too. It's done then... Unless you're a U.S. Treasury expert, I'm not sure how anyone would know about the FBAR without seeing the question on schedule B

Yes, you file Schedule B as well as the FBAR.

I was in the same position as you a couple of years ago, in that I also hadn't known about the FBAR, and hadn't ever filed them.  I emailed the FBAR helpline, and was told to file FBARs for the previous 6 years, along with 1040s for those years (that is, to send the 1040s to the treasury along with the FBARs).  They also told me to include a statement explaining why I hadn't filed the FBARs on time.  I did all this in 2009, so I don't know if that is what they would advise you to do now.  Best of luck with it, hope you get it sorted.

Barcrest, what do you mean by the statute of limitations "beginning to run"?  I keep seeing about this, but don't know how it all works. 

Barcrest, what do you mean by the statute of limitations "beginning to run"?  I keep seeing about this, but don't know how it all works. 

Generally the IRS has 3 years to audit you. So, for example at the moment they can go back to 2008. Come April 16th, they can no longer audit you for that year. Some exceptions would be if you got an extention, it would be 3 years from then.  An understatement of income of more then 25% AGI, or $5,000 attributable to foreign income, will see the 3 years extended to 6. There are exceptions for fraud, I believe there is no statute of limitations for this. Once you file, the clock starts ticking, so this is why I believe it prudent.

There may well be other exceptions that I have not noted that will extend the 3 years to 6.

Thanks for your clarification.  So, there’s no statute of limitations running if you don’t file?  They could, theoretically, come back and ask, Why didn’t you file in 2005 (not that they really would)?  And just filing Schedule B alone would not count as “filing”?  (I can see your point, though -- as long as I’m about it, it wouldn’t be that much more trouble to file the 1040s.)
And is that possibly why Chanah was asked for six years’ worth of returns?  Or does the Treasury have a different statute of limitation?
In my own case, I’d have to check our records, but I don’t think I would have been required to submit FBARs for more than the last two years, maybe three.  Our accounts increased because we parked some money there to buy a house, and now we're buying one, so the FBAR requirement should disappear.  But all of this is worth knowing about.

I've heard all sorts of stories where the IRS had gone back 8 years. I think though that realistically, they would want the previous 3/6 years if you did not file.... Just keeps everything nice and neat by filing, you can download .PDF's if needed direct from the IRS, or file for free with some on line companies such as TaxACT.

The 1040 is the tax return, for "filing". Schedule B, is what it says, just a schedule that goes with the 1040, a supplemental form.

Hope this helps