Missed your FBAR? There's a clean fix.

First, a diagnostic question

There are two official paths to fix late FBAR filings, and they depend on whether your tax returns are also delinquent.

If your federal tax returns are up to date and it's only the FBAR you missed, you use the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedure — a simple process that's essentially "file the late FBAR with a short explanation, no penalty attached."

If your federal tax returns are also delinquent, you need the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, which covers returns and FBARs together as a single package. That's what this site mostly discusses elsewhere.

The Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedure (DFBAR)

If your 1040s are filed on time, all worldwide income is properly reported on them, and the only thing missing is the FBAR, this is a one-step fix:

1. Log into the BSA E-Filing System (the FinCEN portal) and file the missing FBARs electronically.
2. Attach a brief statement explaining why the FBAR was late — a "reasonable cause" narrative. Something like: "I did not realize the filing obligation existed until [date], when [event]."

That's it. The IRS's policy explicitly states that "the IRS will not impose a penalty for the failure to file the delinquent FBARs" if (a) you weren't under civil examination or criminal investigation, (b) you've reported and paid tax on any income from the unreported accounts, and (c) the FBAR failure was not willful.

Most one-off FBAR oversights qualify. The entire process takes a few hours and costs a preparer fee (if you use one) in the low hundreds, not thousands.

When you need Streamlined instead of DFBAR

DFBAR only works if your returns are clean. The second your returns are also delinquent — or you're missing income reporting that should have been on the return — DFBAR is off the table and you need the Streamlined Amnesty Program.

Streamlined is more work (three years of returns + six years of FBARs + a non-willful certification) but it has the same fundamental virtue: most penalties are waived, including the same FBAR penalties DFBAR would waive. You can think of Streamlined as "DFBAR plus the returns."

Key signs Streamlined is the right path, not DFBAR:

• You haven't filed a US 1040 in more than a year (or ever).
• You filed 1040s but didn't include foreign income (e.g., you only reported US-source income).
• You filed 1040s but never attached Form 8938 (FATCA) despite meeting the thresholds.
• You're not sure which years are affected — a consultation sorts out the scope.

The scary part of FBAR (and why most people don't pay it)

The statutory FBAR penalties are genuinely punishing:

• Non-willful failure: up to $10,000 per violation (historically assessed per year; the Supreme Court's 2023 Bittner decision limits it to one $10k penalty per year, not per account).
• Willful failure: up to $100,000 per year or 50% of the account balance, whichever is greater. Criminal penalties are also available.

These are the numbers you'll read about in panicked forum posts. But neither DFBAR nor Streamlined imposes them — that's the entire point of those procedures. They exist precisely because the statutory penalty is so severe that it would be counterproductive if honest late filers refused to come forward for fear of it. The IRS's stated policy is to waive the non-willful penalty for voluntary compliance via these programs.

The people who pay the statutory penalties are generally: filers who were caught before voluntarily fixing it, filers whose conduct is ruled willful, or filers who tried to enter these programs while already under examination.

The time math matters

Both DFBAR and Streamlined have the same hard prerequisite: you must act before you're contacted by the IRS about the issue. Once they contact you, neither program is available.

Which means the moment to act is the moment you learn about the obligation — not after you "figure out how bad it is" or "save up for the fee." The IRS gets automated data feeds from foreign banks under FATCA. If your bank has already reported your account and the IRS is about to send you a letter, DFBAR and Streamlined close. Voluntarily raising your hand first is what unlocks the penalty waiver.

What to do today

A brief eligibility check determines which path applies to your situation. For a clean "I missed FBAR but my returns are fine" case, DFBAR is often a same-week fix.

Check my eligibility