Form 3520-A: Foreign Trust With a U.S. Owner

Form 3520-A is the annual information return of a foreign trust that has at least one U.S. owner. It gives information about the trust, its U.S. beneficiaries, and any U.S. person who is treated as an owner of part of the trust.

The Instructions for Form 3520-A (Rev. December 2025) say to use them for tax year 2025 and later years, until a new revision is issued. This post is general information about the form.

Who must file

A foreign trust with a U.S. owner must file Form 3520-A. This lets the U.S. owner meet its reporting duty under section 6048(b). The instructions say each U.S. person treated as an owner of part of a foreign trust must make sure the trust files the form. That person must also make sure the trust gives the required statements to its U.S. owners and U.S. beneficiaries.

Who is an owner depends on the grantor trust rules in sections 671 through 679. A trust can have more than one owner.

Two statements inside the form

The trust's filing includes a Foreign Grantor Trust Owner Statement (pages 3 and 4) and a Foreign Grantor Trust Beneficiary Statement (page 5). The trust must give copies of both statements to the U.S. owners and U.S. beneficiaries.

The due date

Form 3520-A is due by the 15th day of the third month after the end of the trust's tax year. The trust can ask for more time with Form 7004, which must be filed by the same day. The trust must also give copies of certain statements to its U.S. owners and beneficiaries by the due date.

The substitute form rule

If the trust does not file Form 3520-A, the U.S. owner can avoid the trust's penalty in a different way. The owner completes a substitute Form 3520-A and attaches it to its own Form 3520. The substitute form is due on the due date of Form 3520, not the Form 3520-A due date.

The instructions give an example. For an individual U.S. owner, a substitute form attached to Form 3520 by April 15 is treated as timely filed, if it is completed to the best of the owner's ability.

Penalties

The U.S. owner faces an initial penalty. It is the greater of $10,000 or 5% of the gross value of the part of the trust treated as owned by that person at the end of the tax year. This applies if the trust does not file on time, or if the filing leaves out required information or includes incorrect information.

Additional penalties apply if the problem continues more than 90 days after the IRS mails a notice of failure to comply. When the IRS can work out the gross value, the instructions say the penalties are reduced so the total does not exceed that value.

Language and currency

The instructions say all information must be in English. All amounts must be reported in U.S. currency.

The U.S. owner also reports certain transactions with foreign trusts on Form 3520. For that form, read Form 3520: Reporting Large Gifts and Foreign Trusts. For a separate report on foreign bank accounts, read FBAR (FinCEN Form 114): The Basics for Foreign Accounts.

Checklist

Find out whether the trust has a U.S. owner under the grantor trust rules.
Ask the trustee for the trust's tax year and whether Form 3520-A was filed.
Note the 15th day of the third month after the trust's year end.
If the trust does not file, plan a substitute Form 3520-A to attach to the owner's Form 3520.
Keep copies of the statements given to owners and beneficiaries.

This is general information only. It is not tax advice for your situation.

Sources: Sources: IRS, Instructions for Form 3520-A (Rev. December 2025) (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i3520a--2025.pdf) This is general information, not advice about your specific return.

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