Delinquent FBAR Guide: Filing Late FBARs (2026)

What changed

The July 2026 change, in plain English

From 2014 the IRS published a short page called the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures. It told people who had reported all their income and paid the tax, but had simply never filed the FBAR, that they could e-file the missed reports with a brief explanation and the IRS would not charge a penalty. That page has been removed from irs.gov. There was no press release or notice: the address now returns “Page Not Found”, the last archived live copy of the page is dated 23 June 2026, and tax practitioners began reporting the removal on 2 July 2026. The IRS FBAR page, last updated on 30 July 2026, now says only that filing late or not at all “is a violation and may subject you to penalties,” that assertion of penalties “depends on facts and circumstances,” and that if the IRS has not contacted you, you should file late FBARs as soon as possible, giving the reason for late filing as FinCEN’s instructions describe.

What has not changed: the FBAR itself (FinCEN Form 114), the $10,000 aggregate threshold, the 15 April due date with an automatic extension to 15 October, the FinCEN e-filing form’s box for the reason a report is late, the statutory reasonable-cause defence to a non-willful penalty, and the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures. The Internal Revenue Manual (IRM 4.26.16.3.11, within the manual revision effective 26 August 2025) still instructs examiners that a penalty will not be asserted for an account where the failure to report it on time was not willful, was due to reasonable cause, and the account was properly reported on the delinquent FBAR. The manual is internal guidance to IRS staff, not a right you can enforce, and it can be revised.

What it means in practice: the public, written assurance of “no penalty” is gone. Filing late FBARs is still the right thing to do, and a penalty is not automatic, but nobody can promise you relief. Your reasonable-cause position has to stand on its own facts, which makes the explanation you give, and the record you keep, more important than before. Where balances are large or the facts are mixed, this is a question for professional review before you file.

This guide is for you if

You are a US citizen or green card holder in the UK who has just learned that UK accounts must be reported on an FBAR
Your combined non-US accounts (current accounts, savings, ISAs, some pensions, joint and business accounts) went over $10,000 in a past year
You want to become compliant before the IRS or FinCEN contacts you, and you want to choose the right route first time

Your options

The three routes that remain

Which route applies turns on one question: was the income from these accounts on your US returns, and was the tax paid? If yes, your problem is a missing information report. If no, you have a tax problem as well as a reporting problem, and a different procedure applies.

	File late with reasonable cause	Streamlined Foreign Offshore	Voluntary Disclosure Practice
Who it suits	Income reported and tax paid; only the FBAR was missed	Income or forms also missed; conduct non-willful; lived outside the US	Conduct may have been willful; possible criminal exposure
What you file	Late FBARs via FinCEN with the reason for late filing	3 years of returns, 6 years of FBARs, Form 14653 certification, tax and interest	Pre-clearance to IRS Criminal Investigation, then full disclosure
Penalty position	No automatic penalty; relief depends on reasonable cause and the facts	No FBAR, failure-to-file, failure-to-pay or accuracy penalties on a qualifying submission	Negotiated penalties, typically significant
Primary source	IRS FBAR page; IRM 4.26.16	IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore page (updated 11 Jul 2026)	IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice

File late with reasonable cause

Who it suits: Income reported and tax paid; only the FBAR was missed
What you file: Late FBARs via FinCEN with the reason for late filing
Penalty position: No automatic penalty; relief depends on reasonable cause and the facts
Primary source: IRS FBAR page; IRM 4.26.16

Streamlined Foreign Offshore

Who it suits: Income or forms also missed; conduct non-willful; lived outside the US
What you file: 3 years of returns, 6 years of FBARs, Form 14653 certification, tax and interest
Penalty position: No FBAR, failure-to-file, failure-to-pay or accuracy penalties on a qualifying submission
Primary source: IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore page (updated 11 Jul 2026)

Voluntary Disclosure Practice

Who it suits: Conduct may have been willful; possible criminal exposure
What you file: Pre-clearance to IRS Criminal Investigation, then full disclosure
Penalty position: Negotiated penalties, typically significant
Primary source: IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice

The Streamlined Foreign Offshore route is only available to people who meet the IRS non-residency requirement: in at least one of the three most recent years whose return due date has passed, you had no US abode and were physically outside the US for at least 330 full days. Most Americans settled in the UK meet it. It is not available once the IRS has opened an examination of any year or you are under criminal investigation.

Reasonable cause

What the 'reason for late filing' should say

There is no separate cover letter to post. When a late FBAR is e-filed through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System, the form itself asks for the reason it is late: you choose from a list (for example, that you did not know you had to file) or select “Other” and give a short written explanation, which the IRS manual notes is limited to 750 characters. That box is the only explanation FinCEN sees. Searches for a “delinquent FBAR cover letter” or “sample letter” usually end in templates written for the old procedure; we do not recommend copying one. Our separate guide on the FBAR late filing explanation sets out what the box should contain, with two worked examples of the structure.

Keep the explanation factual and short: what the accounts are, why the filing was missed, and that you have now filed every year that was due. Separately, write and date a fuller reasonable-cause notefor your own file, which you would produce only if the IRS ever asked. Reasonable cause is about your facts: when and how you learned of the requirement, whether you relied on an adviser who did not raise it, that the income was on your returns, and that you acted promptly once you knew. Do not argue the law, do not overstate, and do not leave out a year to make the picture look tidier. An inaccurate statement is far more damaging than a late one.

A common question

Should you talk to an accountant before filing a late FBAR?

If your only issue is missed FBARs and your returns reported all the income, many people file the late reports themselves using the steps below. Speak to a cross-border specialist first if any of these apply: income from the accounts was not on your returns (late FBARs alone will not fix that and Streamlined Filing is the usual route); you are unsure which UK accounts count (workplace pensions and SIPPs, ISAs, joint accounts with a non-US spouse, or a company account you can sign on); the balances were large; or the IRS or FinCEN has already written to you. Since July 2026 the cost of choosing the wrong route is higher, because there is no longer a published safe harbour to fall back on.

The process

Filing late FBARs step by step

01
1. Check the income was reported
Confirm that interest, dividends, pension growth and other income from each account appeared on your US returns for the years concerned. If it did not, stop here and read the Streamlined section below.
02
2. Identify the years and accounts
For each year, list every non-US account you owned, co-owned or could sign on, with its highest balance in that year converted to US dollars at the Treasury year-end rate. An FBAR was due for any year the combined total exceeded $10,000.
03
3. Write the reasonable-cause note
Date it, keep it factual, and store it with your tax records. It is your evidence if a question is ever raised.
04
4. E-file through FinCEN
File one FinCEN Form 114 per missed year through the BSA E-Filing System, selecting the reason for late filing on each. Keep the confirmation numbers.
05
5. Stay current
Diarise 15 April (automatic extension to 15 October) for every future year, and review Form 8938 as well: it is a separate report with higher thresholds.

If income was unreported

When Streamlined Filing is the right route

If any of the accounts produced income that was not on your US returns, or you never filed US returns at all, the IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures are designed for exactly that situation, provided your conduct was non-willful: negligence, inadvertence, mistake or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law. You file the three most recent years of returns (or amended returns) with any missing information returns such as Forms 8938, 3520 or 5471, the six most recent years of FBARs, a signed Form 14653 certifying non-willful conduct, and the tax and interest due. The IRS states that a qualifying submission is not subject to failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, accuracy-related, information-return or FBAR penalties. The procedures remain open as of October 2026, but the IRS can change or end them at any time, which is a reason not to wait. Our Streamlined Filing service explains what we prepare and how the engagement runs.

Penalties

What is actually at stake

FBAR penalties are civil penalties under 31 U.S.C. 5321, assessed by the IRS after an examination; they are not triggered automatically by a late filing. For penalties assessed from 17 January 2025 the inflation-adjusted maximums are $16,536 per non-willful violation and, for willful violations, the greater of $165,353 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation (31 CFR 1010.821). In Bittner v United States (2023) the Supreme Court held that the non-willful penalty applies per late report, not per account. The statute gives the IRS six years from the violation date to assess a penalty. Willful failures can also be prosecuted. No one can guarantee that a late report will escape a penalty. In our experience the exposure is lowest for a late report filed voluntarily, with the income reported and a genuine reason, and it rises with unreported income, large balances and any sign that the omission was a choice.

UK accounts

Which UK accounts go on an FBAR

The FBAR covers financial accounts held outside the US: UK current and savings accounts, cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs, brokerage and investment accounts, premium bonds held in an NS&I account, cash-value life policies, and accounts you do not own but can sign on, such as an employer’s or a relative’s. Joint accounts with a non-US spouse are reported in full. Whether UK workplace pensions and SIPPs must be reported is not settled in published guidance; the cautious approach, which is the one we recommend, is to report them. Each balance is converted at the US Treasury year-end exchange rate for the year reported. Our FBAR checker walks through the threshold test.

At a glance

Form: FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR)
Filed with: FinCEN BSA E-Filing System
Threshold: Combined non-US accounts over $10,000 at any time in the year
Due date: 15 April; automatic extension to 15 October
Old safe harbour: Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures page, no longer on irs.gov (mid-2026)
If income unreported: Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures
Non-willful penalty: Up to $16,536 per report (2025 adjustment)

Not sure how this applies to you?

Email us a few lines about your situation

Sources

Primary sources used for this guide

IRS, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), page last reviewed or updated 30 July 2026.
IRS, US taxpayers residing outside the United States (Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures), updated 11 July 2026.
IRS, Internal Revenue Manual 4.26.16, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (effective 26 August 2025), in particular 4.26.16.3.11 and 4.26.16.5.4.
IRS, former page “Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures” (irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/delinquent-fbar-submission-procedures): returned “Page Not Found” when checked on 18 October 2026; last archived live copy 23 June 2026.
US Treasury, 31 CFR 1010.821, penalty adjustment table (penalties assessed on or after 17 January 2025).
FinCEN, BSA E-Filing System and the FinCEN Form 114 instructions (reason for late filing).
Bittner v United States, 598 U.S. 85 (2023).

This guide is general information for US persons living in the UK, written on 18 October 2026. It is not advice on your circumstances. US tax years are calendar years; FBAR penalty amounts are adjusted for inflation and should be checked against the current table before relying on them.

Related tools and pages

FBAR late filing explanationWhat to write in the reason box on the form, with worked examples.FBAR filing servicePreparation and e-filing of current and late FBARs.Streamlined Filing serviceFor non-willful cases with unreported income.FBAR checkerCheck whether you need to file an FBAR at all.Streamlined Filing vs late FBAR filingThe two catch-up routes, side by side.FBAR vs Form 8938Two separate reports with different thresholds.All US–UK tax guidesEvery step-by-step guide and comparison in one place.

Frequently asked questions

Not as a published IRS procedure. The IRS page that set them out now returns "Page Not Found". The last archived live copy is dated 23 June 2026, practitioners reported the removal from 2 July 2026, and the IRS has made no announcement. Its FBAR page (last updated 30 July 2026) now says that filing an FBAR late or not at all is a violation that may attract penalties, and that anyone who has not been contacted by the IRS should file late FBARs as soon as possible, explaining the reason on the FinCEN form. The reasonable-cause defence and the Streamlined procedures remain available.

File the missed FBARs electronically through the FinCEN BSA E-Filing System, choose the reason for filing late on the form, and keep a dated, factual reasonable-cause note on file. A penalty is not automatic: the IRS assesses FBAR penalties only after an examination, and its own manual says a non-willful penalty should not be imposed where there was reasonable cause and accurate late FBARs are filed. Take advice first if balances were large, the accounts were not on your returns, or the IRS has already written to you.

Then simply filing late FBARs is not enough. Where your conduct was non-willful and you meet the non-residency requirement, the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures let you file three years of returns and six years of FBARs with a signed non-willful certification (Form 14653), and the IRS states it will not assert FBAR or late-filing penalties on a qualifying submission.

There is no cover letter to post. The FinCEN e-filing form asks why the report is late, with a list of reasons or an "Other" box for a short written explanation. That explanation, plus a reasonable-cause note you keep on file, is the written record. We do not recommend copying a template: the statement must describe your own facts accurately.

Every year for which an FBAR was required and not filed, within the six-year statute of limitations for FBAR penalties. Under the Streamlined procedures the look-back is fixed at the six most recent years whose due dates have passed. Which years are "required" depends on whether your combined non-US account balances exceeded $10,000 at any point in each year.

For penalties assessed from 17 January 2025, the inflation-adjusted maximum is $16,536 per non-willful violation and, for willful violations, the greater of $165,353 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation (31 CFR 1010.821). Following the Supreme Court decision in Bittner v United States (2023), a non-willful penalty applies per late report, not per account. Criminal penalties are possible for willful cases.

If the only issue is a missed report and the income was on your returns, many people file themselves. Speak to a cross-border specialist first if income was unreported, you are unsure which UK accounts count (pensions, ISAs, joint accounts, business accounts you can sign on), balances were large, or the IRS or FinCEN has contacted you. Choosing the wrong route is the mistake that costs money, not the filing itself.

Not sure which route applies to you?

Tell us by email which years you think are missing and whether the income was on your US returns. We will say which route fits and quote in writing before any work begins.