How do I report foreign inheritance taxes on over a million euros from my father in France?

Yes, you absolutely need to report this inheritance, though the good news is that the US generally doesn't impose inheritance taxes on the recipient. However, there are several important filing requirements you need to know about. First, you'll need to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) if your foreign account exceeds $10,000 at any time during the year - which yours clearly does. This is filed separately from your tax return, electronically through the BSA E-Filing System. You'll also need to complete Form 8938 (Statement of Foreign Financial Assets) with your tax return if you exceed the reporting threshold. For single filers living in the US, that's $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or $75,000 at any time during the year. While inheritance itself isn't typically taxed in the US, any income generated by those inherited assets (like interest from the account) is taxable. Make sure you report any interest earned since you inherited the account.

After dealing with a smaller foreign inheritance (about €200k from my grandmother in Germany), I discovered taxr.ai https://taxr.ai and it was seriously a game-changer. I was totally lost with all the foreign account reporting requirements, and their system helped identify exactly which forms I needed. What I found super helpful was their ability to analyze the French bank statements and inheritance documents even though they were in French! The system translated and extracted all the relevant tax info, then showed me exactly which parts needed to be reported on which US tax forms. They also flagged potential tax treaty benefits between US and France that my regular accountant completely missed.

I need to follow up about taxr.ai - I ended up trying it after my initial skepticism and wow, I was wrong! I uploaded documents from my uncle's estate in Switzerland (mix of German and French paperwork) and it correctly identified everything, including some pension distributions that had different tax treatment than the principal inheritance. The system flagged that I needed to file FBAR form, Form 8938, and pointed out that I might qualify for foreign tax credits for taxes already paid in Switzerland. It even generated a FATCA compliance checklist for me. What really impressed me was how it explained everything in plain English - like why certain parts of the inheritance weren't taxable in the US but still reportable. Would definitely recommend for your situation with the French inheritance!

When I inherited property and accounts from my aunt in Portugal last year, I spent WEEKS trying to get someone at the IRS to clarify the reporting requirements. Called dozens of times, always got disconnected or waited for hours. Finally, I used https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS international tax specialist. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c It literally got me connected to a knowledgeable IRS agent in about 15 minutes who explained exactly what forms I needed and answered all my questions about foreign bank account reporting requirements. Turns out I was about to make some major mistakes that could have resulted in massive penalties!

Ok I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it since I've been trying to reach the IRS about my Japanese inheritance for MONTHS. Got connected to an IRS international tax specialist in about 20 minutes! The agent walked me through exactly how to report foreign bank accounts on the FBAR form and clarified which parts of my inheritance were taxable vs. just reportable. She even emailed me links to the specific IRS publications that applied to my situation. Saved me from potentially making a $10,000+ mistake on my foreign account reporting. Absolutely worth it for peace of mind when dealing with international inheritance issues.

My cousin is an international tax attorney and always says that most people overlook FATCA requirements with foreign inheritances. Make sure you're also looking at whether you need to file Form 3520 (Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts) if this counts as a foreign gift exceeding $100,000. The penalties for missing these international reporting requirements can be brutal - like $10,000+ just for missing the filing. Also, France might have already taken inheritance tax depending on your relationship to your father. You might need to look into foreign tax credits if you paid tax in France.

Has anyone actually used a specific accountant or firm for this kind of situation? I'm dealing with an inheritance from Greece and would rather just pay someone to handle everything correctly than try to figure it all out myself.