Filing Taxes in NY

[askingnow]

American Citizen, Living in the US and receiving a small Foreign Pension in Europe (Romania).
Which Form to File about Reporting the Pension?
Which Form to File about the Foreign Bank account with a small balance that does not earn any (interest) income?
Thank you

 

[Taxing Matters]

American Citizen, Living in the US and receiving a small Foreign Pension in Europe (Romania).
Which Form to File about Reporting the Pension?

You put the pension income on the line on the Form 1040 for income from pensions and annuities. That's line 4c & 4d on the 2019 Form 1040.

Which Form to File about the Foreign Bank account with a small balance that does not earn any (interest) income?

You'd need to at least complete the section about foreign accounts on Schedule B of Form 1040 even if you don't have interest income from those accounts to report. If the account is large enough, you may need to also complete and attach Form 8938 to your return and/or file a FinCEN Form 114 (also known as the FBAR filing requirement) with the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The IRS enforces the rules for filing of both these forms. There are large penalties that may be imposed if you fail to file the Form 8938 or FinCEN 114 when you are required to do so. The IRS has a helpful chart that compares the requirements for filing these two forms.

 

[davew9128]

I would want to know more about the pension itself, whether its an employer pension such as a classical receive $XXX/month for life or a contributory pension similar to a 401k, which can have all sorts of US reporting requirements associated with it.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I would want to know more about the pension itself, whether its an employer pension such as a classical receive $XXX/month for life or a contributory pension similar to a 401k, which can have all sorts of US reporting requirements associated with it.

True, though few, if any, Romanian pensions will qualify as a qualified plan under U.S. tax law, e.g. like a § 401(k) plan or IRA would.

 

[davew9128]

True, though few, if any, Romanian pensions will qualify as a qualified plan under U.S. tax law, e.g. like a § 401(k) plan or IRA would.

Exactly which can lead to PFIC or 3520 filing requirements.