This article was created in partnership with Expat One Tax. Tax rules are complex and individual circumstances vary. This article is for general informational purposes and should not be considered individual tax or legal advice.

Moving abroad comes with a surprisingly long list of things to figure out—residency, banking, visas, healthcare, and about a million other things you probably never thought about before making an international move.

And if you’re an American living abroad, there’s another big one: US taxes.

One of the things that surprises many Americans after moving overseas is that living outside the United States generally doesn’t make your US tax filing obligations disappear. And between learning an entirely new country’s tax system and adjusting to life abroad, it’s easy to see how US filing requirements can get overlooked.

If you’ve fallen behind, though, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re facing years and years of impossible paperwork and penalties.

The IRS has Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures available to certain taxpayers whose failure to report income, pay tax, or submit required information returns resulted from non-willful conduct. For eligible Americans living abroad, the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures can provide a way to address the covered filing years and return to regular US tax compliance.

Depending on your situation, that may involve submitting delinquent or amended US tax returns for three covered tax years and Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts—commonly known as FBARs—for six covered calendar years.

So, who actually qualifies, what do you have to file, and what does the process look like?

Let’s break it down.

Do I qualify for the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures?

Here’s a quick overview of some of the major requirements discussed in this article:

Requirement	What it generally means
Living outside the US	US citizens and Green Card holders must meet the applicable non-residency requirements, including having no US abode and being physically outside the US for at least 330 full days during at least one of the three covered years.
Non-willful conduct	Your failure to file, report income, pay tax, or submit required information returns must have resulted from negligence, inadvertence, mistake, or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law.
Three tax years	The submission generally covers the most recent three years for which the US tax return due date—or properly extended due date—has passed.
Six FBAR years	Required FBAR filings generally cover the most recent six years for which the FBAR due date has passed.
No IRS examination/investigation	You cannot already be under an IRS civil examination or criminal investigation.
Taxpayer ID	You’ll generally need a valid Social Security Number or ITIN, although certain eligible taxpayers may submit an ITIN application with their Streamlined package.
Penalties	Taxpayers who correctly complete the Foreign Offshore procedures are generally not subject to the covered failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, accuracy-related, information-return, or FBAR penalties. Tax and statutory interest still have to be paid.

There is also a separate Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures program with different requirements, including a 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty. This article focuses specifically on the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures for taxpayers living outside the United States.

The PDF’s reviewer specifically notes that eligibility is more nuanced than simply having unfiled tax returns. Someone who previously filed an incomplete return may also qualify by submitting amended returns.

What is the IRS Streamlined Filing Program?

The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures were created to help eligible US taxpayers address certain past tax compliance issues when their conduct was non-willful.

You may sometimes hear people refer to Streamlined as a type of “tax amnesty program,” although that isn’t its official name.

Instead, think of it as a specific IRS compliance procedure.

For eligible taxpayers, it provides a way to address the covered filing years and get back into regular US tax compliance without certain penalties that could otherwise apply.

However, completing a Streamlined submission doesn’t result in a formal closing agreement with the IRS. Streamlined submissions aren’t automatically audited, but returns submitted through the program can still be selected for examination under normal IRS procedures.

What does “non-willful” actually mean?

This is one of the most important parts of determining whether Streamlined is appropriate for you.

According to the definition included in the technical review, non-willful conduct is conduct caused by negligence, inadvertence, mistake, or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law.

In other words, Streamlined isn’t intended for someone who intentionally hid income or accounts to avoid US taxes.

As part of the process, you’ll complete and sign Form 14653, which includes a certification explaining why your failures were non-willful.

And that certification isn’t limited to simply explaining why you didn’t file a tax return. Depending on your circumstances, it can address failures to:

• file tax returns;
• report all income;
• pay all required tax;
• submit required international information returns; and
• file required FBARs.

Your explanation doesn’t need to sound like it was written by a lawyer, but it does need to be complete, specific, and truthful. You should provide enough detail for the IRS to understand what happened, why it happened, and why the conduct was non-willful.

If there’s concern that your conduct may have been willful, the Streamlined Procedures may not be appropriate. In that situation, the review recommends speaking with an experienced international tax attorney before making a submission.

What is the 330-day rule?

For US citizens and Green Card holders using the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, living abroad is an important part of eligibility.

According to the requirements provided for this article, you must have had no US abode and been physically outside the United States for at least 330 full days during at least one of the three covered years.

If you’re married and filing jointly, both spouses must meet the applicable test.

This distinction matters because the foreign and domestic Streamlined procedures aren’t identical—including how penalties are treated.

Can I qualify if I already filed a US tax return?

Potentially, yes.

This is an important misconception about the program.

Streamlined isn’t limited to Americans who simply stopped filing tax returns altogether.

For example, someone may have filed US tax returns but later discovered that they failed to report certain income or submit required international information returns.

If they’re otherwise eligible, their Streamlined submission may therefore include amended returns rather than only delinquent returns.

Depending on the person’s financial situation, additional international information returns—such as Forms 3520, 5471, or 8938—may also be required.

Which three tax returns and six FBARs are required?

You’ll often hear Streamlined described as requiring “three years of tax returns and six years of FBARs.”

That’s a helpful shorthand, but the actual rule is more specific.

For a Streamlined Foreign Offshore submission, the covered periods generally include:

Tax returns: The most recent three years for which the tax return due date—or a properly extended due date—has already passed.

FBARs: The most recent six years for which the applicable FBAR due date has already passed.

Your three years may involve delinquent returns, amended returns, or required international information returns depending on what was previously filed.

What is an FBAR, and do I need to file one?

An FBAR is officially called the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts.

Despite the name, an FBAR isn’t an income tax return, and filing one doesn’t automatically mean you owe additional tax.

It’s an informational report concerning certain financial accounts held outside the United States.

Generally, an FBAR filing requirement can arise if the aggregate value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds US$10,000 at any point during the calendar year.

And here’s the part that’s easy to misunderstand: the $10,000 threshold applies to the combined value of your applicable foreign accounts—not $10,000 per account.

For example, imagine that at one point during the year you had:

• US$6,000 in one foreign account; and
• US$5,000 in another foreign account.

Together, those accounts had an aggregate value of US$11,000, potentially triggering an FBAR filing requirement even though neither individual account contained more than US$10,000.

There’s another important distinction when completing Streamlined filings:

FBARs aren’t mailed to the IRS with your tax returns.

Required Streamlined FBARs are filed electronically through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System, while the Streamlined tax return package is submitted separately to the IRS on paper.

What documents will you need?

Every situation is different, but a Streamlined Foreign Offshore submission may require:

• delinquent or amended US tax returns for the three covered tax years;
• any required international information returns;
• information necessary to electronically file required FBARs for the six covered calendar years;
• income documentation, including employment, self-employment, pension, or investment records as applicable;
• a signed Form 14653 certification explaining why the applicable failures were non-willful; and
• payment of any tax due plus statutory interest.

If you’re missing original documents, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t move forward. A tax professional may be able to help obtain IRS transcripts or identify other acceptable records.

What penalties can the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures eliminate?

This is obviously one of the biggest questions people have when they’ve fallen behind.

For eligible taxpayers who properly complete the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, the covered submission is generally protected from certain penalties, including failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, accuracy-related, information-return, and FBAR penalties.

However, that doesn’t mean the entire process is automatically free.

Any tax owed and applicable statutory interest remain payable.

It’s also important not to confuse the Foreign Offshore Procedures with the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures, which have different requirements and generally include a 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty.

What happens if you wait?

If you’ve already fallen behind, it’s tempting to keep putting it off—especially when you aren’t sure what fixing it will involve.

But there is an important reason eligible taxpayers may want to address the situation sooner rather than later.

Once the IRS has initiated a civil examination for any tax year, a taxpayer is no longer eligible to use the Streamlined Procedures. A taxpayer under an IRS criminal investigation is also ineligible.

So rather than waiting indefinitely because you’re worried about what will happen, it can be worth determining whether you qualify and what would be required to address the covered filing years.

What does the Streamlined filing process look like?

While everyone’s tax situation is different, the general process involves:

1. Determining whether you qualify for the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures.
2. Identifying the applicable filing years and any missing or incomplete tax and international information returns.
3. Gathering your financial records, including income documentation and information about foreign financial accounts.
4. Preparing delinquent or amended US tax returns and required international information returns.
5. Preparing and electronically filing required FBARs with FinCEN, identifying “Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures” as the reason for filing late.
6. Completing and signing Form 14653, including your non-willful certification.
7. Preparing the Streamlined tax return package for the IRS, including the required copies and writing “Streamlined Foreign Offshore” in red at the top of the relevant returns.
8. Paying applicable tax and statutory interest and submitting the package according to current IRS instructions.

One thing that’s a little different about this process is that the IRS generally doesn’t send an acknowledgment or formal approval of a Streamlined submission, and the process doesn’t result in a closing agreement.

Because filing instructions can change, you should always follow the IRS’s current Streamlined Foreign Offshore submission instructions rather than relying solely on a general article like this one.

Do you need an expat tax professional?

Technically complicated tax situations are probably not where most of us want to DIY—especially when multiple countries and international reporting requirements are involved.

A professional who regularly works with Americans abroad can help determine whether the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures are appropriate for your situation, identify which returns and international forms you actually need, prepare required FBARs, and make sure the submission follows the current IRS procedures.

That’s where Expat One Tax comes in.

They specialize in helping Americans living abroad navigate US tax requirements, including situations where someone has fallen behind on their US filings.

If you’ve been avoiding your US taxes because you don’t know where to start, the first step doesn’t have to be figuring out every form yourself. It can simply be finding out whether you qualify for Streamlined and what you actually need to file.

Learn more about Expat One Tax and get help with your US expat tax filings here.

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Technical review

This article was created in partnership with Expat One Tax. The information provided is general in nature and is not intended as individualized tax or legal advice. Eligibility for the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures depends on individual facts and circumstances.

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