The short answer

You must file Form 3520 if you are a US person AND any of the following happened during the tax year:

You received more than $100,000 in gifts or bequests from a foreign individual or foreign estate (one donor or multiple related donors, totaled).
You received more than $17,339 (2024 number, indexed annually) in gifts from a foreign corporation or foreign partnership.
You contributed to, owned, or received a distribution from a foreign trust (any amount).

If none of the above applies, you do not file. There is no minimum just to be safe.

Who is a US person

A US person for Form 3520 purposes is:

A US citizen, regardless of where they live.
A US lawful permanent resident (green-card holder), regardless of where they live.
A US resident alien under the substantial-presence test (generally, present in the US for at least 183 weighted days over three years).
A US domestic estate or trust.

Notice: green-card holders living overseas still count. So do US citizens born and raised abroad who have never set foot in the US. Citizenship-based taxation strikes again.

Who is a foreign person

For the donor side, "foreign" means not any of the above. The most common cases:

A nonresident alien relative living overseas.
The estate of a non-US-citizen decedent who was domiciled outside the US.
A foreign corporation or LLC organized under non-US law.
A foreign partnership.
A foreign trust.

The donor's nationality is what matters, not where the money sat. A wire from a UK bank account owned by your US-citizen cousin is not a foreign gift — it is a domestic gift, no Form 3520. A wire from your UK-citizen uncle's UK account is a foreign gift.

The big edge cases

Inheritances count. A bequest from a foreign decedent is a "gift" for Form 3520 purposes, even though most people would call it inheritance. If grandmother in Italy left you €150,000 via her Italian will, you file Form 3520 reporting the bequest.

You aggregate from related parties. If your foreign-resident mother gave you $60,000 and your foreign-resident father gave you $50,000 in the same year, the IRS treats that as a $110,000 gift from one donor unit because they are related under the family-attribution rules. You cross $100,000 — you file.

Non-cash counts. A piece of land in India, a foreign brokerage account transferred to your name, a car shipped to you, a foreign-denominated bond — all of it. You report fair market value in USD on the date you received it.

Spousal gifts from a US-citizen spouse to a non-US-citizen spouse have their own rules. That is Form 709, not Form 3520. Talk to a CPA if this is your case.

Who does NOT have to file

US citizens or residents who received gifts only from US persons.
US persons who received less than the threshold from any foreign source.
Foreign persons giving gifts to other foreign persons (the giver is also not the filer — only the US recipient files).

A real example

Sarah is a US citizen living in Seattle. Her grandmother in Mumbai sent her $80,000 as a wedding gift in March, and her uncle in Mumbai sent another $40,000 in November. Both donors are nonresident aliens, both are family. Aggregated total: $120,000. Sarah files Form 3520, Part IV, by April 15 of the next year. She also checks whether the cash sat in any foreign account long enough to trigger FBAR or Form 8938.

3520file is software, not a CPA firm or law firm. We prepare IRS Form 3520 based on the facts you provide. For advice on your specific situation, talk to a tax attorney or CPA. The above is plain-English explanation, not tax advice.

Who Must File Form 3520? The Rules in Plain English