<P> The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ( FATCA ) is a 2010 United States federal law requiring all non-U.S. ( ' foreign ' ) financial institutions ( FFIs ) to search their records for customers with indicia of ' U.S. - person ' status , such as a U.S. place of birth , and to report the assets and identities of such persons to the U.S. Department of the Treasury . FATCA also requires such persons to self - report their non-U.S. financial assets annually to the Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) on form 8938 , which is in addition to the older and further redundant requirement to self - report them annually to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN ) on form 114 ( also known as ' FBAR ' ) . Like U.S. income tax law , FATCA applies to U.S. residents and also to U.S. citizens and green card holders residing in other countries . </P>
what is foreign account tax compliance act ( fatca )
a 2010 United States federal law requiring all non-U.S. ( ' foreign ' ) financial institutions ( FFIs ) to search their records for customers with indicia of ' U.S. - person ' status , such as a U.S. place of birth , and to report the assets and identities of such persons to the U.S. Department of the Treasury