Form 3520 Checklist for Gifts and Inheritance from India
A step-by-step Form 3520 checklist for gifts and inheritance from India — determine your status, pick the right threshold, aggregate related donors, collect the records, and confirm the deadline and mechanics before you file.
Reviewed by Deepak Middha, CA, Series 65
Deepak has experience in cross-border finance, tax-aware planning, and immigrant money decisions. Credentials shown are Indian (CA) and US securities (Series 65); this is not US CPA or legal advice.
Work through this checklist top to bottom. It takes a gift from your parents or an inheritance from India and turns the Form 3520 question into concrete steps — the right threshold for your source, the records to gather, and the deadline mechanics. Form 3520 is an information return filed separately from Form 1040; the risk is the penalty for not filing, not a tax on the gift.
The four stages at a glance
- Determine status — confirm you are a US person and pick the tax year
- Aggregate amounts — combine related donors and convert to USD
- Collect records — the documents that support the filing
- File separately — Form 3520 is filed apart from Form 1040, on its own timeline
The step-by-step checklist
- Determine US-person status — Form 3520 is a US-person obligation; visa type alone does not decide it, so confirm your US tax residency first.
- Select the transaction type — a gift, a bequest from a foreign estate, a distribution from a foreign trust, or a purported entity gift. Each routes differently.
- Identify the donor / source category — nonresident individual, foreign estate, foreign corporation, foreign partnership, or foreign trust.
- Choose the tax year — the US tax year the amount was received (calendar year for most individuals); the entity threshold is set per year.
- Aggregate related donors — combine gifts from related givers (for example, both parents) into one total for the threshold test.
- Convert each receipt to USD — value each gift or bequest in USD on the date it was received.
- Apply the correct threshold — $100,000 aggregate for a nonresident individual or foreign estate; the indexed entity figure ($20,573 for TY 2026, $20,116 for TY 2025) for a foreign corporation/partnership; a foreign trust is reviewed under Part III, not the $100,000 test.
- Identify gifts above $5,000 — once the individual/estate $100,000 trigger is crossed, list each separate gift above $5,000 individually.
- Collect the documents — use the grouped lists below for your situation.
- Confirm the filing deadline and extension — generally April 15 (June 15 if you live and work abroad); a valid income-tax-return extension generally extends Form 3520 no later than October 15.
- Confirm the mailing / e-filing mechanics — using the current Instructions for Form 3520 and the current filing address before you submit.
- Send an organized package to your CPA — the numbers, the documents, and your answers above.
- Retain records — keep the filing and its supporting documents for your records.
- Missed a prior year? — do not guess; ask your CPA about the cleanest catch-up path and any reasonable-cause relief.
Documents to collect — by situation
Pick the group that matches what you received.
Cash gift
- Gift letter / declaration
- Sender and recipient bank records
- Relationship proof
- Source-of-funds evidence
- Date and USD value
Inheritance
- Will
- Probate / succession records
- Death certificate
- Legal-heir records
- Date-of-death valuation
- Estate distribution records
Non-cash asset
- Asset description
- Original acquisition information
- Gift-date or death-date valuation
- Title / ownership records
- Subsequent income records
Foreign trust
- Trust deed
- Beneficiary statement
- Distribution statement
- Trustee details
- Specialist CPA review
Questions to ask your CPA
- Did my year's aggregate from this source cross the correct Form 3520 threshold — and what is my deadline?
- Do I need to combine related donors (for example, both parents)?
- Does my income-tax-return extension cover Form 3520?
- If I missed a prior year, what is the cleanest way to catch up?
- What documentation should I keep on file to support the filing?
Not sure if you are in scope? Start the checker
Answer a few questions — the tax year, source category, aggregate value, and what you received — and get a Form 3520 result with the threshold used, plus the documents to collect. No login and no email required.
For the official form and current instructions, see the IRS in the Primary official sources below.
Frequently asked questions
Which Form 3520 threshold applies to a gift from my parents?
Gifts and bequests from a nonresident individual or a foreign estate — which includes your parents — are reported when the year's aggregate exceeds $100,000. That is different from the annually-indexed entity threshold for a foreign corporation or partnership ($20,573 for tax year 2026), and different again from a foreign-trust distribution, which is reviewed under Part III.
How do I aggregate gifts from both parents?
Add together the gifts and bequests from related donors and test the combined total against the $100,000 threshold. Both parents count as related donors, so you cannot treat each as a separate $100,000 allowance. Convert each receipt to USD on the date received before adding.
When is Form 3520 due and how is it filed?
Form 3520 is filed separately from Form 1040. For most calendar-year individuals it is generally due April 15, or June 15 if you live and work outside the US, and a valid return extension generally extends it no later than October 15. Confirm the current mailing or e-filing mechanics in the Instructions for Form 3520 before submitting.
Does a foreign trust use the $100,000 gift threshold?
No. A distribution from a foreign trust is reviewed under Form 3520 Part III (and possibly Form 3520-A), not the $100,000 gift test. Treat it as a specialist case and get cross-border advice before acting.
Primary official sources
Verify the current figures and mechanics against the source of truth — thresholds and instructions change.
- IRS — Gifts or bequests from foreign persons ↗
- IRS — About Form 3520 & instructions ↗
- IRS — International information reporting penalties ↗
- RBI — Liberalised Remittance Scheme ↗
- Income Tax Department (India) — TCS & Form 15CA/15CB ↗
Rules last verified July 15, 2026 · Reviewed on each material update.