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Answered August 2026

Because ownership transferred to you and your siblings before the sale, you do not file Form 3520 again just for receiving your share of the sale proceeds; you report the sale on Form 8949 and Schedule D.

I previously filed Form 3520 when ownership of my late mom's foreign house transferred to me and my siblings. The house finally sold and I just received my portion of the proceeds. Do I need to file Form 3520 again, and if not, how does the IRS know the money came from the sold house rather than a new gift?

Summary

You do not need the IRS to identify the wire by guesswork: your tax return reports the inherited-property sale, and your documents connect the earlier inheritance to the title, closing, ownership allocation, and deposit. The only hard part is confirming that the heirs—not an estate or trust—were the legal sellers.

The decisive question is who legally owned and sold the house at closing.

You and your siblings sold itlikely yours

If title had already transferred to the heirs, your payment is your share of proceeds from selling an asset you owned—not a new gift or bequest. Do not file another Form 3520 merely to label the wire; report the inherited-property sale on Form 8949 and Schedule D, then prove its source with the inheritance, title, closing, allocation, and bank records.

The foreign estate sold itestate branch

If the remained the owner, sold the house, and then distributed cash, apply Form 3520 Part IV to what you actually received that year. File when aggregate covered foreign gifts or bequests exceed $100,000; Form 3520 is generally due on the 15th day of the fourth month after year-end.

A foreign trust paid youtrust branch

If a owned the house or proceeds, complete Form 3520 Part III for the distribution. Part III, rather than the Part IV foreign-gift threshold, controls this branch.

A prior Form 3520 does not replace a later form if the earlier filing and the current payment represent two genuinely different reportable receipts.

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Watch out for

The deed and closing statement controlYour answer is ‘no second Form 3520’ only if the inheritance/title records show that you and your siblings owned the house before it was sold. If a remained the owner and seller, test the cash paid to you as a current-year foreign-estate bequest under Form 3520 Part IV; it is reportable when aggregate covered gifts or bequests exceed $100,000.
A foreign trust is differentIf a , rather than you and your siblings, owned the house or proceeds and made the payment, report the distribution in Form 3520 Part III. The IRS says foreign-trust distributions belong in Part III, not under Part IV’s $100,000 gift/bequest test.
The wire can trigger account formsDirectly held foreign real estate is not itself reported on or , but a foreign financial account holding the proceeds can be. File FBAR if you had a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any moment. Form 8938 thresholds are: while living in the United States, single or married filing separately—over $50,000 at year-end or $75,000 anytime; married filing jointly—over $100,000 or $150,000. For qualifying taxpayers living abroad, those pairs are $200,000/$300,000 and $400,000/$600,000, respectively.
A loss may not be deductibleIf the house was property held for personal use, the IRS says a loss on its sale is not deductible. A gain above your is taxable; the property’s actual use therefore matters if your calculation produces a loss.
Separate extra money from sale proceedsReconcile the amount wired to your documented ownership share of net sale proceeds. Any excess paid by a family member is not supported by the house-sale trail and must be classified separately; if it is a covered foreign gift, the Form 3520 aggregation rule may apply.

Next steps

These steps create the paper trail the IRS would use to distinguish your sale proceeds from a new foreign gift.

Before choosing a form

Match the legal seller to the inheritance records

If the closing documents name you and your siblings as owners/sellers, use the direct-owner branch and do not file Form 3520 solely for the wire. If they name a foreign estate, apply Part IV’s aggregate $100,000 test; if they name a foreign trust, use Part III.

Requirements

Copy of the Form 3520 previously filed
Probate, inheritance, or succession document
Deed or land-registry record showing when title transferred
Sale contract and closing statement naming the seller

Before preparing the return

Reconcile your exact share of the proceeds

Create a one-page reconciliation from total net sale proceeds to your ownership percentage and the exact amount deposited. Keep any amount above or below that calculation separately explained rather than treating the whole wire as sale proceeds.

Requirements

Documented ownership percentages
Closing statement showing gross price and selling expenses
Distribution calculation for each sibling
Bank statement and wire confirmation

For the tax year of sale

Calculate basis, proceeds, and U.S.-dollar gain

Your inherited is generally your share of the house’s date-of-death fair market value, unless the executor validly elected the alternate valuation date. Express reportable amounts in U.S. dollars using the applicable prevailing exchange rate; subtract your share of basis from your share of net proceeds to determine or loss.

Requirements

Date-of-death valuation or permitted alternate valuation
Your ownership percentage
Net sale proceeds and sale date
Source and date for each currency rate used
Receipts for any foreign income tax paid

With the federal return for the closing year

Report the inherited-property sale

If the sale closed in 2026, include it with your 2026 Form 1040 filed in 2027. Use Form 8949 Part II, enter “INHERITED” in column (b), report your share of the sale even if no Form 1099-S was issued, and carry the result to Schedule D.

Requirements

Completed gain or loss calculation
Form 8949
Schedule D (Form 1040)

For the same calendar or tax year

Handle any foreign-account or foreign-tax filing

E-file if aggregate covered foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time. Attach to the income-tax return if its applicable asset threshold was exceeded. If eligible foreign income tax was imposed on the same sale income, calculate the credit on Form 1116.

Requirements

Maximum value of every foreign account you owned or could sign on
Tax filing status and whether you qualify as living abroad
Foreign tax assessment and payment receipts

After filing

Keep the full evidence file

Keep the property records until the limitation period expires for the return covering the sale. These documents—not a duplicate Form 3520—show that the deposit came from disposing of an inherited ownership interest.

Requirements

Prior Form 3520 and filing proof
Inheritance and title documents
Valuation and currency-rate support
Closing statement and sibling allocation
Bank, wire, and foreign-tax records
Filed Form 8949, Schedule D, FBAR, Form 8938, or Form 1116, as applicable

Legal sources

This answer rests on current IRS Form 3520 and Form 8949 guidance, IRS inherited-property and recordkeeping rules, and FinCEN’s FBAR rule.

IRC 6039F; Form 3520 Part IV

Form 3520 Part IV covers current-year foreign gifts and bequests above the stated aggregate threshold—not proceeds from selling property the recipient already owned.

 IRC 6039F; Form 3520 Part IV

Form 3520 Part IV

In general, a foreign gift or bequest is any amount received from a person other than a U.S. person (a foreign person) that the recipient treats as a gift or bequest and excludes from gross income. For gifts or bequests from a nonresident alien or foreign estate, you are required to report the receipt of such gifts or bequests only if the aggregate amount received from that nonresident alien or foreign estate, or foreign person that you know or have reason to know are related to the nonresident alien or foreign estate, exceeds $100,000 during the taxable year.

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Form 3520 Part III

A payment from a foreign trust follows the trust-distribution rules rather than Part IV’s gift/bequest threshold.

 Form 3520 Part III

Form 3520 Part III

Distributions from a foreign trust are reportable on Part III of Form 3520.

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IRS Gifts & Inheritances FAQ

The sale of inherited property belongs on the capital-gain forms when a return is required.

 IRS Gifts & Inheritances FAQ

Generally, the gross proceeds from the sale of inherited property are included in gross income when considering the need to file. If there’s a filing requirement, report the sale on Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses, Capital Gains and Losses") and on Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets :

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IRC 1014; IRS Gifts & Inheritances FAQ

The usual inherited-property basis is date-of-death fair market value, and a sale above basis produces taxable gain.

 IRC 1014; IRS Gifts & Inheritances FAQ

To determine if the sale of inherited property is taxable, you must first determine your basis in the property. The basis of property inherited from a decedent is generally one of the following: The fair market value (FMV) of the property on the date of the decedent's death (whether or not the executor of the estate files an estate tax return ( Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return Tax Return") ). If you sell the property for more than your basis, you have a taxable gain.

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2025 Instructions for Form 8949

Real-estate sales must be entered on Form 8949 even without a U.S. information statement such as Form 1099-S.

 2025 Instructions for Form 8949

General Instructions

Enter all sales and exchanges of capital assets, including stocks, bonds, digital assets, and real estate (if not reported on line 1a or 8a of Schedule D or on Form 4684, 4797, 6252, 6781, or 8824). Include these transactions even if you didn't receive a Form 1099-B, Form 1099-DA, or Form 1099-S (or substitute statement) for the transaction.

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2025 Instructions for Form 8949

Inherited property is generally reported as long-term, and Form 8949 tells the filer to put INHERITED in the acquisition-date column.

 2025 Instructions for Form 8949

Part II

Generally, if you disposed of property that you acquired by inheritance, report the disposition as a long-term gain (or loss) regardless of how long you held the property. Enter “INHERITED” in column (b).

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IRS Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping

The taxpayer keeps the evidence that connects the inheritance, ownership, sale, and wire and establishes basis.

 IRS Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping

How long should I keep records?

Keep records relating to property until the period of limitations expires for the year in which you dispose of the property in a taxable disposition. You must keep these records to figure your basis for computing gain or loss when you sell or otherwise dispose of the property.

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IRS Foreign Currency and Currency Exchange Rates

Foreign-currency sale and basis amounts used on the U.S. return must be translated into U.S. dollars using the applicable prevailing rate.

 IRS Foreign Currency and Currency Exchange Rates

Foreign currency exchange rates

You must express the amounts you report on your U.S. tax return in U.S. dollars. If you receive all or part of your income or pay some or all of your expenses in foreign currency, you must translate the foreign currency into U.S. dollars. Use the exchange rate prevailing when you receive, pay, or accrue the item.

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FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR)

A brief deposit of sale proceeds can trigger FBAR because the test uses the maximum aggregate foreign-account value at any time.

 FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR)

A United States person that has a financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts must file an FBAR if the aggregate value of the foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

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IRS Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR Requirements

The house itself is outside both account forms when held directly, but a foreign account containing the proceeds can be within both.

 IRS Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR Requirements

Types of foreign assets table

|Financial (deposit and custodial) accounts held at foreign financial institutions |Yes |Yes | |Foreign real estate held directly |No |No |

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IRS Publication 544 (2025)

A loss is not deductible if the inherited house was held for personal use.

 IRS Publication 544 (2025)

Capital or ordinary gain or loss

Loss from the sale or exchange of property held for personal use is not deductible.

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Form 1116; Foreign Tax Credit

Eligible foreign income tax on the same sale income may support a U.S. foreign tax credit claimed on Form 1116.

 Form 1116; Foreign Tax Credit

If you paid or accrued foreign taxes to a foreign country or U.S. possession and are subject to U.S. tax on the same income, you may be able to take either a credit or an itemized deduction for those taxes. File Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate, or Trust)") , to claim the foreign tax credit if you are an individual, estate or trust, and you paid or accrued certain foreign taxes to a foreign country or U.S. possession.

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These are the official rules as published on the cited dates; tax forms, thresholds, and rules can change.

This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.

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