Short answer: No – as of 2025, the IRS is still accepting Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure submissions for FBAR compliance. However, taxpayers should act quickly. The Streamlined program (both the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (SDOP) and Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP)) remains in effect. It continues to offer eligible taxpayers a path to resolve unreported foreign bank accounts and income.
Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures: Current Status in 2025
The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures are an IRS “amnesty” program designed for taxpayers who failed to report foreign financial accounts or pay related taxes due to non-willful oversight. In exchange for catching up on past-due filings and certifying that past noncompliance was unintentional, eligible taxpayers receive substantially reduced penalties – or even no penalties at all for qualified expats– compared to the draconian fines ordinarily imposed for foreign reporting failures. The Streamlined program has two variations:
Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (SDOP)
For U.S. residents (U.S. taxpayers living in the United States) who meet the eligibility criteria. SDOP requires filing up to 3 years of amended tax returns and 6 years of FBARs (Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts), plus payment of any back taxes and interest. In lieu of standard penalties, SDOP imposes a one-time Title 26 miscellaneous offshore penalty of 5% on the highest aggregate balance of unreported foreign assets during the covered period. This 5% penalty generally covers all failure-to-file and FBAR penalties for those years, a much more lenient outcome than normal.
Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP)
For U.S. taxpayers residing outside the United States who qualify as foreign residents under the program’s non-residency tests. SFOP similarly requires 3 years of delinquent or amended tax returns and 6 years of FBARs, with payment of tax and interest due. No penalties are assessed under SFOP if requirements are met (the IRS waives all late filing and FBAR penalties). This reflects the IRS’s recognition that overseas Americans often genuinely weren’t aware of the filing obligations. To qualify for SFOP, the taxpayer must meet strict non-residency criteria (for example, U.S. citizens or green-card holders must have been physically outside the U.S. for ≥330 days in at least one of the past three years, with no U.S. abode) and, like SDOP, must certify non-willfulness.
How Streamlined FBAR Compliance Works
Under the Streamlined procedures, a taxpayer must file all required missing forms for the disclosure period and swear to their non-willfulness. In practice, this means preparing and submitting:
Three years of tax returns (or amended returns)
e.g., for a Streamlined submission made in 2025, you would usually include tax years 2022, 2021, and 2020 (the last 3 years where filing deadlines have passed). These returns should be accurate and include all previously unreported foreign income and any required international information forms (such as Forms 8938, 3520, 5471, etc., if applicable). For SDOP (domestic cases), the IRS requires these to be amended returns if original returns were filed – you cannot use Streamlined to file an original delinquent return for a year that you simply skipped filing (SFOP allows original returns if you were an expat who never filed at all.) All tax and interest due for these years must be paid with the submission.
Six years of FBARs (FinCEN Form 114)
FBAR is the separate Treasury Department filing to report foreign financial accounts. Using the FinCEN BSA E-Filing system, you must electronically file any missing FBARs for the last six calendar years. For example, a Streamlined submission in 2025 would include FBARs for 2019–2024. The FBAR filings must report all foreign accounts you owned or controlled with an aggregate balance over $10,000 each year. These late FBARs should be filed after you have submitted the tax returns, and you will indicate within the FBAR form that it’s part of a compliance program filing (selecting “Streamlined” as the filing reason if available or including a statement).
Certification of Non-Willful Conduct (Form 14653 or 14654)
Perhaps most critical is the requirement that you sign a certification under penalty of perjury attesting to your non-willfulness. You must (with assistance of counsel) write a narrative explanation detailing why you failed to report the foreign accounts and income previously, emphasizing the facts that show your conduct was unintentional. This statement should be truthful and thorough – all “good, bad, and ugly” facts should be disclosed. A poorly drafted or vague certification can lead the IRS to reject your Streamlined submission or later scrutinize it in audit. Worse, any false statements in your certification could expose you to criminal tax and foreign information reporting charges (for filing a false certification). Preparing this narrative is a delicate task, where the guidance of experienced tax counsel is invaluable, ensuring the statement satisfies IRS requirements without inadvertently raising unnecessary red flags.
As of 2025, Streamlined eligibility still rests on three core tests: (1) non-willfulness, (2) no ongoing IRS examination, and (3) meeting the foreign-residency standard (SFOP) or U.S. residency (SDOP). The old $1,500 tax-liability screen is gone, so any amount of unreported tax can qualify as long as the conduct was genuinely non-willful. The 2023 Bittner decision, which caps non-willful FBAR penalties at $10,000 per annual FBAR rather than per account, benefits only taxpayers outside Streamlined; filers in the program still face the fixed 5 percent SDOP penalty—or none under SFOP. With the IRS having withdrawn its FBAR-mitigation guidelines and given agents broader discretion, Streamlined remains the safest and most cost-effective compliance path.
Potential Penalties for FBAR & Offshore Non-Compliance
Non-compliance with foreign-asset rules is brutally expensive: a non-willful FBAR lapse now tops out at $10,000 per late FBAR per year (post-Bittner), while a willful failure can trigger the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the account balance per year—plus up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Add 20 percent accuracy-related tax penalties (or 75 percent if deemed fraud), monthly failure-to-file/pay additions, and $10,000-to-$50,000 charges for each unfiled Form 8938, 3520, 5471, and similar reports. Stacked over multiple years, these assessments can eclipse the value of the account itself and potentially lead to a criminal tax or foreign information reporting referral. By contrast, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures cap exposure at zero penalties for qualified expats (SFOP) or a one-time 5 percent asset levy for domestic filers (SDOP)—a fraction of the willful regime. With FATCA reporting and IRS data analytics at full throttle, hiding offshore funds is no longer viable; voluntary compliance now, under Streamlined or another sanctioned path, is far cheaper and safer than facing an IRS exam later.
Don’t Risk FBAR Penalties – Let the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing Help You Navigate Streamlined Disclosure
At the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, our dual-licensed attorneys and CPAs deliver a single-source solution for Streamlined disclosures. We begin with a rigorous, privilege-protected evaluation of your facts to confirm non-willfulness, spot any red flags the IRS could construe as willful, and compare Streamlined to alternatives such as IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice. This upfront vetting prevents costly missteps—such as entering the wrong program, mis-certifying intent, or triggering an eggshell audit—and positions your case for the lightest penalty structure available.
Once Streamlined is confirmed, we prepare every component in-house: three years of amended returns with correct foreign-income calculations, six years of FBARs, and a persuasive Form 14653/14654 narrative that fully satisfies IRS requirements without volunteering damaging excess detail. Our integrated legal-accounting approach eliminates “foot faults” (missing forms, wrong addresses, mis-computed 5 % bases) that can derail a submission, and our attorney cover letter channels all IRS communication through counsel—maintaining privilege, shielding you from direct examiner contact, and allowing real-time advocacy if the Service questions your filing.
Finally, we stay engaged until your disclosure clears the IRS pipeline, intervene if the matter is selected for a high-risk tax audit, and coordinate any California state fallout. The result: minimized civil tax exposure, sharply reduced criminal risk, and restored peace of mind in a world of relentless FATCA data sharing. Call (888) 564-1409 or use our secure online scheduler for a reduced-rate, confidential initial consultation and let our battle-tested dual-licensed Attorney-CPAs protect your assets, freedom, and future.
