Almost. It is in addition to filing a US income tax form (which is also a requirement). Anyone who has an account overseas has to file two forms each year. One is called the FBAR and you have to list the accounts and their maximum value for the year and send it to the Treasury. The second is an IRS form (forget the number) that asks for essentially the exact same information, and you have to send that to the IRS.
They have huge fines if you miss sending these and can apply the fines punitively (obviously). They do not signify anything owed. They are simply a report of the accounts you have.
The intent was to catch wealthy people hiding money overseas, which is why the fines are so absurd. But, the Treasury goes after the regular expats making a small error, not the NY billionaires with Swiss bank accounts.
To put it in perspective, since I have left Australia, I have paid zero Australian tax and filed zero Australian forms as I am not a resident there. Only the US does this.
