I bought a 10 year swiss life insurance over US $10,000 back in Oct 2008 without knowing the FBAR reporting requirement. I read the IRS IRM 04-026-016l that talks about foreign life insurance and quoted the following:

"An insurance policy having a cash surrender value is an example of a financial account."

My insurance policy was brand spanking new in 2008 and had no cash surrender value.

Should I include this in my 2008 FBAR and put 0 as the maximum value or wait until the policy starts accumulating cash surrender value to begin the filing in future years?

Thanks

Ken

Swiss insurers always issue an annual year-end statement showing the policy's surrender value. This because Swiss taxpayers must declare this and pay wealth tax on it.

Yes my year-end statement of 2008 shows 0 as the surrender cash value and 0 dividend. The only amount that is non-zero is the premium paid.

The $10k threshold that creates a requirement to file is not for any single account, but for all accounts combined. So, if you file the FBAR form (TDF 90-22.1), you should include all financial accounts, no matter their maximum value. (See the form's instructions.)

Yes but please read again on this statement

"An insurance policy having a cash surrender value is an example of a financial account."

In 2008, the insurance policy does not have a cash value. Will that be even considered as a financial account?

I'd say it does have a cash value - but that value is currently 0.

Include in on the form, better be safe than sorry...

Evilshell get's one right !!!

Thanks guys for the suggestion.