1040/FATCA filing trigger for minor child

[rsargant]

Hi,
Not strictly a can/us tax issue but I'm wondering if my 8 year old son (U.S citizen residing + growing up in Canada) opens his first "plain old savings account" with a Canadian bank, does that trigger any U.S filing obligations for him re: FATCA? I've looked around and it seems he'd be way below any of the applicable limits but there are so many rules now.. finding it difficult to be sure.

He will be way below income thresholds for 1040 filing (maybe a tiny amount of interest but I'm talking about $5 / week allowance money here).

I'm just wondering about the "reporting" part of it.

Out of "down the road" curiosity,would the election to "Report a child's interest & dividends on the parents return" outlined in Pub 929 be available to a 1040-NR parent (me) ?

[nelsona]

Your child is subject to FBAR id he has accounts that add up to 10K just like any othr US filer.

I'll let you look up the max he can receive in "unearned" income without having to file a 1040. It os about $1500-2000 under the kiddie tax rules.

Interesting strategy to claim that income on a 1040NR (which of course would make it non-reportable if it was interest and Cdn dividends) I see no problem using that, but no need to even worry about it until the reach the taxable level.

[rsargant]

Thanks. I was pretty sure he was ok on the FBAR thing. I was worried about other forms like 8938 or some other form I've never heard of. He'll be well below the 1040 filing thresholds for several years. If anything else "reporting related" is tied to him filing a 1040 then we're good for now. I have no desire to start filing U.S tax returns for him until necessary.

Yes, the 1040-NR (parent), 1040 (child) setup allows for some interesting things to be done.