American citizens with at least $10,000 stored in one or more foreign financial accounts are required to file a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR). The name of this report is a bit misleading, as just not only do foreign bank accounts need to be reported, but other financial accounts need to be reported as well. This includes investment accounts and retirement accounts such as RRSP’s.
Filing an FBAR does not result in owing any additional taxes or fees to the IRS. And reporting any accounts that don’t technically need to be reported will not result in any penalties. However, not reporting accounts when required could result in penalties starting at about $12,500. The advice to follow is to include something on an FBAR if you are not sure whether or not to include it.
RRSPs may also be reportable on a FATCA report if the total value of your foreign financial assets exceeds certain thresholds.