Form 3520 Foreign Gift and Bequest Guide (2025-2026)
Estate and gift tax review path
How nonresident estate and gift questions are separated from annual income-tax filing.
Identify asset type
U.S.-situs assets and tangible property drive many nonresident estate/gift questions.
Check transfer type
Gift, bequest, inheritance, and ownership restructuring follow different rules.
Match the form
Form 706-NA, Form 709, or Form 3520 may be relevant depending on facts.
Use specialist review
Estate and gift positions are high-stakes and often need professional analysis.
Key Takeaways
- A U.S. recipient of a large foreign gift or bequest may have a separate Form 3520 reporting duty.
- The main individual/estate threshold is generally more than $100,000 in aggregate.
- Related foreign donors may need to be aggregated for threshold testing.
- Form 3520 has its own timing rules and is filed separately from the income-tax return.
The recipient's reporting duty is separate from the donor's gift-tax duty
U.S. persons who receive large gifts or bequests from foreign persons often assume that if the foreign donor handled their side, there is nothing left for the recipient to do. The IRS says otherwise. Part IV of Form 3520 may be required when a U.S. person receives more than $100,000 from a nonresident alien individual or foreign estate, or more than the section 6039F threshold amount from foreign corporations or foreign partnerships that are treated as gifts.
Aggregation rules make fragmented gifts dangerous
The Form 3520 instructions say gifts from related foreign persons may need to be aggregated when testing the threshold. That means a family cannot assume several smaller transfers are invisible if the facts show related donors or an intermediary structure.
The due date behaves like a stand-alone international information return
The IRS gifts-from-foreign-person page explains that Form 3520 is filed separately from the income-tax return, is generally due April 15 for calendar-year individual taxpayers, may move to June 15 for certain U.S. persons abroad, and generally cannot be extended beyond October 15 for calendar-year taxpayers. That is a filing calendar worth handling deliberately.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does a U.S. person usually file Form 3520 for a foreign gift or bequest?
Generally when the U.S. person received more than $100,000 from a nonresident alien individual or foreign estate, or exceeded the separate threshold for certain foreign entity gifts.
Do gifts from related foreign family members get added together?
They can. The IRS instructions say gifts from related foreign persons may need to be aggregated for threshold purposes.
Is Form 3520 attached to the normal income-tax return?
No. The IRS says it is filed separately, even though its due date often tracks the tax-year filing calendar.
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