Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets

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nanic
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:26 pm

Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets

Post by nanic »

Is the Public Service pension plan to be included in this report? Also I assume you principal residence is not considered a Financial Asset.
JGCA
Posts: 754
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2010 3:05 pm
Location: Montreal, QC Canada

Post by JGCA »

If the plan is held by US payer it is not foreign and does not need to be reported, Your US home is not reportable. Also there is a $50K min so any amount under this is excluded
JG
nanic
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:26 pm

Post by nanic »

Thanks for the reply. But actually this is the Canadian Public Service pension plan also my house is in Canada. But I read the instructions for the form and it says your home is excluded. As for the Pension, I don't really have the assets, so should it be reported.
nelsona
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Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

It is not to be reported.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
nanic
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:26 pm

Post by nanic »

Thanks for the info.
patti
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:28 pm

Post by patti »

I am looking over 8938 and it doesn't seem nearly as daunting as I originally thought. So long as all your assets are held in "Foreign Deposit or Custodial accounts", you only need to fill in Parts 1, 3, and 4. For the most part this means reporting maximum account values (similar to FBAR). Part 2 is where the form gets really ugly but that only seems to apply if you have "other foreign assets" that are not in a "foreign deposit or custodial account". I'm guessing means buying shares directly from a company or having investment certificates stored in a safety deposit box.

So for example, I believe that if you have a taxable Cdn brokerage account that holds a bunch of stocks, some cash, a few GICs, REITs, etc, you would simply report this brokerage account in Part 1 (based on total value) and do not need to break this out by security (as you would need to do in part 2 for those securities not in an account). Am I interpreting this correctly? I sure hope so.

Here's a related question: What is the difference between a "deposit account" and a "custodial account"? A bank account is obviously a "deposit account". What about a taxable Cdn brokerage account? I'm guessing that in this context, that is also a "deposit account" but would appreciate another opinion on that. And I'm not really sure what would qualify as a "custodial account"??? Of course, the instructions don't provide any clarity.

Thanks.
jonhave
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:04 am

Post by jonhave »

The instructions for form 8938 say that you do have to report foreign pension plans (if you meet the reporting threshold I assume). It specifically tells you how to value a foreign pension plan for which you couldn't possibly know the value at the end of the year (no statement etc.) Also, talks about what value to put down for the plan if you are receiving the pension benefits if you couldn't possibly know the plan's total value.
patti
Posts: 66
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:28 pm

Post by patti »

For Part I of Form 8938, is an unregistered Cdn brokerage account considered a "depository account" or a "custodial account"? The terms are not defined in the instructions at all. Thanks.
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