On IRS form 8938, is the total on line 6 done day by day?
Suppose I have USD 200,000 in one bank for January and February, and I have USD 300,000 in another bank for April and May.
If the total is done day by day, then USD 300,000 is the answer. But, if it is sum of all (ignoring overlap or not), then USD 500,000 is answer.
If you read the instructions, the amount shown in Part I is the sum of the maximum amounts shown in Part V. So in your case, the maximum would be $500,000.
Ira Smilovitz, EA Leonia, NJ
The instructions say "Report the total maximum value of these deposit accounts" which seems ambiguous to me.
The instructions about the threshold say you report if it is "more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $75,000 at any time during the tax year" which suggests you use the actual maximum.
I suppose it's safer to report the larger number and I don't see any downside if you're over the reporting threshold anyway.
You've only looked at the specific instructions for line 6. The general instructions for Part I state:
Part I. Foreign Deposit and Custodial Accounts Summary
Use Part I to summarize information regarding foreign deposit and custodial accounts reported in all Parts V.
Ira Smilovitz, EA Leonia, NJ
I had read the instructions. I found them ambiguous. That is why I asked here.
That also is ambiguous. Is it day by day or not?
Line 6 as written makes no sense. "total" implies more than one. But, "maximum value" is singular (not plural).
It would be a lot clearer if it read (if this is what they mean): "Report the total of maximum values of these deposit accounts" or "Report the sum of maximum values of these deposit accounts"
Where does one find the actual law about this?
I don't see what's ambiguous here. Part I summarizes the data in Part V by adding the amounts reported in Part V. Part V has you list the maximum value in each account as of the date that account has its maximum value. If you had $100K in bank 1 for the first 6 months of the year and moved it to bank 2 for the last six months, line 6 would show $200K. The fact that the line 6 amount does not even approximate the amount of assets you had in a foreign bank at any point during the year is irrelevant.
As to the actual law - here you go:
Form 8938 was authorized by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), enacted as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act). Temporary and Proposed Regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 6038D were issued on December 14, 2011 and set forth the basic requirements for filing Form 8938.
Ira Smilovitz, EA Leonia, NJ
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