US taxes - FBAR and Form 8938 requirements for IBKR?

[akiaji]

Hi everybody. "Favorite" time of the year doing taxes.

Late last year, I signed up with Interactive Brokers via the .co.jp site. I am US citizen living in Japan with PR.
I am not clear on whether the IBKR account is one that needs to be reported for FBAR and Form 8938. Are the funds ultimately held by a US financial institute, so no forms are needed, or is the account in Japan so reporting is necessary? I have logged a ticket with IBKR, but they are taking a while to respond, so I thought to check here as well.

Thank you.

[captainspoke]

Not an expert on this, but while (on the one hand) I think IBKR is the US-based version of it, it's puzzling that you're mentioning/using the co.jp address--I think it should be .com instead.

[akiaji]

Thank you for the reply! Before I signed up with them, I sent IBKR a query on whether I should sign up with their .com or .co.jp website. They replied that since I resided in Japan, I would need to sign up via the .co.jp website. So account is with their Japan entity, but the funds end up being held in the US. Hence my confusion.

[captainspoke]

Yep--I agree that's confusing...

[akiaji]

For everybody's reference, I heard back from IBKR on this. They confirmed that the funds are held with a US institution and a 1099 is issued, so no separate reporting via FBAR or 8938 required. I am waiting to see if my US tax accountant raises any flags, but looks good for now. IBKR is quite the savior for us US folk living in Japan.

[FlamingWombat]

Yep--I agree that's confusing...

Yeah, it sounds weird, but to access the international IBLLC account while residing in Japan you have to go through the Japanese portal site.

[gogakuhei]

For everybody's reference, I heard back from IBKR on this. They confirmed that the funds are held with a US institution and a 1099 is issued, so no separate reporting via FBAR or 8938 required. I am waiting to see if my US tax accountant raises any flags, but looks good for now. IBKR is quite the savior for us US folk living in Japan.

This needs a little more love. Thanks for checking with IBKR, and thanks for sharing the response with all of us.

[FlamingWombat]

I wonder how this has changed with the migration to IBSJ accounts, in terms of FBAR reporting...

[10-7]

I wonder how this has changed with the migration to IBSJ accounts, in terms of FBAR reporting...

I just asked IBSJ about this and was told my account is reportable to the IRS as a foreign financial asset.
So, US persons should be reporting IBSJ accounts on both the FBAR and Form 8938 (assuming thresholds are met).