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Flag additional returns, special filing rules, foreign-asset reports, and ACA items at intake
Some intake facts call for a tax form beyond Form 1040 or a separate reporting deadline. This lesson teaches which facts trigger the check and which IRS form or announcement settles it.
Household employment. For 2025, cash wages of $2,800 or more to one household employee generally trigger Social Security and Medicare taxes, reported on Schedule H with the individual return (or alone if no income tax return is required). Confirm the worker is an employee and check other Schedule H triggers before filing.
Gifts made and gifts received are different. A U.S. donor who gave one person more than the $19,000 annual exclusion in 2025 generally files Form 709. A U.S. person who received more than $100,000 in total during 2025 from a nonresident alien individual or related foreign persons reports that foreign gift on Form 3520; a smaller gift does not meet this reporting threshold. A foreign-trust distribution has its own Form 3520 rules. Keep the wage records, gift transfer records, and trust statements with the file.
Sam gave his nephew $40,000 in 2025, paid a household employee $3,200 cash wages, and received a $120,000 gift from a nonresident alien parent. Ana checks Form 709 for Sam as donor, Schedule H for the household wages, and Form 3520 for Sam as recipient of the foreign gift. The forms follow different facts and thresholds.
Form 709 Instructions Who Must File
If you gave gifts to someone in 2025 totaling more than $19,000 (other than to your spouse), you must generally file Form 709.View on the source
Form 3520 Instructions Purpose of Form
U.S. persons (and executors of estates of U.S. decedents) file Form 3520 with the IRS to report: Oct 7, 2025 • Certain transactions with foreign trusts, • Ownership of foreign trusts under the rules of sections 671 through 679, and • Receipt of certain large gifts or bequests from certain foreign persons.View on the source
Form 1040 Instructions Page 113
You paid any one household employee (defined below) cash wages of $2,800 or more in 2025.View on the source
Form 3520 Instructions Page 2
More than $100,000 from a nonresident alien individual or a foreign estate (including foreign persons related to that nonresident alien individual or foreign estate) that you treated as gifts or bequests;View on the source
Mara paid one unrelated household employee $3,200 in cash wages during 2025. The worker is an adult employee, not an independent contractor, and Mara must file Form 1040. Which form checks the resulting household employment taxes?
A U.S. citizen or resident living and working outside the United States and Puerto Rico on the regular due date generally has an automatic two-month extension to file and pay, through June 15 for a calendar-year return. Interest still runs on unpaid tax from the original April due date, but late-payment penalties start from the extended June 15 payment date. Attach a statement to the return explaining which situation qualified the taxpayer for the extension. Living abroad alone does not establish eligibility for the foreign earned income exclusion or foreign tax credit; examine the income and applicable tests separately. Pay from the U.S. government to its employees abroad is not foreign earned income for the exclusion.
For a disaster, use the IRS announcement to confirm the covered locality, dates, and postponed deadline. A disaster declaration alone does not supply one universal filing date. For a joint overpayment offset by one spouse’s past-due debt, Form 8379 requests allocation of the injured spouse’s share.
Jo, a U.S. citizen employed by a private company, lives and works abroad on April 15. Ana records the automatic June 15 filing and payment date, notes that interest runs from April 15, and attaches a statement explaining Jo’s eligibility. She then checks Jo’s income separately for a foreign exclusion or credit. Jo also lives in a disaster area and files jointly with a spouse who alone owes past-due support. Ana checks the IRS relief announcement for Jo’s locality and prepares Form 8379 for Jo’s share of any overpayment.
Form 1040 Instructions Page 62
But your part of the overpayment may be refunded to you if certain conditions apply and you complete Form 8379.View on the source
Publication 17 Page 3
Due date of return. File Form 1040 or 1040-SR by April 15, 2026.View on the source
Form 1040 Instructions Foreign-Source Income
If you worked abroad, you may be able to exclude part or all of your foreign earned income. For details, see Pub. 54 and Form 2555.View on the source
Publication 54 Foreign Tax Credit
Foreign income taxes on U.S. return. Foreign income taxes can only be taken as a credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 1, or as an itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040).View on the source
Publication 547 Disaster Area Losses
Covered disaster area. This is an area of a federally declared or a state-declared disaster in which the IRS has decided to postpone tax deadlines for up to 1 year.View on the source
Publication 54 Page 6
You are allowed an automatic 2-month extension to file your income tax return and pay federal income tax if you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien, and on the regular due date of your return:View on the source
Publication 54 Page 35
Amounts paid by the United States or its agencies to their employees aren’t treated for this purpose as foreign earned income.View on the source
Iris, a U.S. citizen employed by a private company, lives and works abroad on April 15, 2026, the regular due date of her 2025 return. Which filing rule applies?
Foreign-account and asset reporting splits into two separate checks. The FBAR inquiry follows signature authority and financial interest in foreign accounts. The Form 8938 inquiry follows specified foreign financial assets held during the year, with specified individuals including resident aliens under either test. Whether either report is actually due turns on its own threshold math — an aggregate foreign-account value over $10,000 at any time for the FBAR and the status-and-residence reporting thresholds for Form 8938 — checked separately against the records. Each flag has its own deadline: the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15, while Form 8938 attaches to the annual return by that return's due date including extensions, so with no return there is no Form 8938 to attach.
Lee holds a foreign checking account with signature authority and foreign securities through the year. Ana flags the account for FBAR screening and flags the securities holdings for Form 8938 screening. The two inquiries stay separate from intake through filing.
Form 1040 Instructions Page 23
If you had foreign financial assets in 2025, you may have to file Form 8938.View on the source
Form 8938 Instructions Page 2
Resident aliens. You are a resident alien if you are treated as a resident alien for U.S. tax purposes under the green card test or the substantial presence test. For more information, see Pub. 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens. If you qualify as a resident alien under either rule, you are a specified individual.View on the source
FBAR Line Item Instructions General Instructions — Who Must File an FBAR
Who Must File an FBAR. A United States person that has a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts must file an FBAR if the aggregate value of the foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.View on the source
FBAR Line Item Instructions General Instructions — Purpose
The FBAR must be received by the Department of the Treasury on or before April 15th of the year immediately following the calendar year being reported. FinCEN will grant filers failing to meet the FBAR annual due date of April 15th an automatic extension to October 15th each year. Accordingly, specific requests for this extension are not required.View on the source
Form 8938 Instructions Types of Reporting Thresholds
If you are a specified individual, your applicable reporting threshold depends upon whether you are married, file a joint federal income tax return, and live inside (or outside) the United States.View on the source
Form 8938 Instructions When and How To File
Attach Form 8938 to your annual return and file by the due date (including extensions) for that return.View on the source
Form 8938 Instructions When and How To File
Do not send a Form 8938 to the IRS unless it is attached CAUTION to an annual return or an amended return.View on the source
A U.S. taxpayer can sign on a foreign bank account but owns none of its funds. What reporting question remains?
Marketplace coverage and advance premium tax credit payments are shown on Form 1095-A. Use its coverage months and advance amounts, together with tax-family size and household income, to complete Form 8962. Update the household facts when a child is born or someone moves; reconcile the advance credit on the return using the statement rather than an estimate.
Pat’s household of two became three in July. Ana gets Form 1095-A for the coverage months and advance payments, records the birth, and gathers household income. Those are the inputs for Form 8962 reconciliation.
Form 8962 Instructions Page 1
For tax year 2025, taxpayers with household income that exceeds 400% of the federal poverty line for their family size may be allowed a PTC.View on the source
Form 8962 Instructions Page 2
Form 1095-A shows the months of coverage purchased through the Marketplace and any APTC paid to your insurance company to help cover your monthly premium.View on the source
Pat’s Marketplace-covered household grew when a child was born in July. What should the preparer update before reconciling the credit?
The course asks you questions like these as you learn, brings back the ones you miss, and ends with full-length practice exams.
See the course Or take the free 12-question checkGroundSkill is independently produced and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the IRS. Sources last checked 2026-09-14. Exam preparation, not tax advice.