If you've missed FBAR or Form 8938 filings on foreign accounts, the IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures offer retroactive compliance — if you qualify. SFO (Streamlined Foreign Offshore): 0% penalty. SDO (Streamlined Domestic Offshore): 5% on highest balance. The eligibility test is strict. Answer five questions; see your path.
The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (introduced 2012, modified 2014, last update 2020) are the principal path for US persons who failed to file FBARs or report foreign financial assets due to non-willful conduct — negligence, inadvertence, mistake, or misunderstanding the law. The procedures bifurcate by US-vs-abroad residency: SFO (Streamlined Foreign Offshore) for US persons abroad has 0% penalty; SDO (Streamlined Domestic Offshore) for US-resident persons has a 5% penalty on the highest aggregate year-end balance over the 6-year lookback period.
The "non-willful" certification (Form 14653 for SFO, Form 14654 for SDO) is the load-bearing element. Non-willful means the failure was due to negligence or mistake — NOT reckless disregard or willful blindness. The IRS examines the certification carefully. For willful cases, the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) is the operative path, with substantially higher penalty exposure but criminal-prosecution avoidance.
US person who had a US abode AND was physically present in US for <35 days in at least 1 of the 3 most-recent prior years. The 330-day equivalent for the FBAR-Streamlined test. Test is annual; the prior-year math is what matters.
Amended Form 1040s for 3 most-recent prior years; FBARs (electronic) for 6 most-recent prior years; Form 14653 or 14654 certification narrative; tax due plus interest. SDO adds the 5% penalty payment with the package.
The FBAR / FATCA chapter — both reporting regimes, the overlap matrix for 12 common asset types, and the full Streamlined eligibility flowchart with required filing package details. Plus VDP analysis for willful cases. Get the chapter and the launch notice.