Missed FBAR Filings: How to Catch Up Safely From the UK

Missed FBAR filings: an introduction

If you have missed FBAR filings for your UK accounts, the safest way to catch up is usually through the IRS Streamlined procedures, not by filing late FBARs on their own. The Streamlined Foreign route covers six years of FBARs and, for eligible filers, waives FBAR penalties. Since July 2026, the IRS no longer publishes a separate penalty-free route for late FBARs alone.

This article explains your options and the risks of each. For the full catch-up programme, read our guide to IRS Streamlined filing. For the reporting rules themselves, see our guide to FBAR and FATCA reporting.

Why missed FBAR filings are so common in the UK

The FBAR is a report, not a tax return, so many Americans abroad never hear of it. It is filed with FinCEN, not with your Form 1040. Moreover, the threshold is low, at $10,000 across all your foreign accounts combined. A UK current account and a savings account can pass it quickly, and some practitioners also count UK pensions. As a result, missed FBAR filings are one of the most frequent problems we see among Americans in Britain.

Who should have filed an FBAR?

You should have filed if you are a US person and your foreign accounts together exceeded $10,000 at any time in a calendar year. That includes accounts you only have signature authority over.

The $10,000 test

According to the IRS FBAR page, a US person files if the aggregate value of their foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time in the year. Aggregate means all accounts added together. For example, three UK accounts holding $4,000 each on the same day pass the test. The rule itself is in 31 CFR 1010.350, which defines who must report.

Accounts that count

A financial account includes bank accounts, securities accounts and many other accounts held at foreign institutions. In addition, joint accounts with a non-US spouse count in full. Accounts where you can sign but have no money of your own, such as an employer's account, can count too. Therefore, the first step is a full list of every UK account you held in each year.

When it was due

The FBAR for each calendar year is due on 15 April of the following year. There is an automatic extension to 15 October, with no request needed. Our article on the FBAR deadline covers the dates in detail. Consequently, if 15 October has passed for a year and you did not file, that year is late.

Can you just file late FBARs on their own?

You can, but it is no longer a protected route. The IRS removed its Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures page in July 2026, so late FBARs filed alone carry no published promise of penalty relief.

What changed in July 2026

For years, the IRS offered a route for people who owed no extra tax but had missed FBARs. That route had its own page. The IRS removed it in July 2026. Therefore, you should not treat late FBARs on their own as a penalty-free option for missed FBAR filings. Any article that still describes that route is out of date.

What the IRS page now says

The IRS FBAR page says filing late, or not at all, is a violation that may bring penalties. If the IRS has not contacted you and you are not under investigation, it says to file as soon as possible to minimise potential penalties. You follow FinCEN's instructions to explain why you filed late. However, if you use a compliance option such as the Streamlined procedures, you follow that option's instructions instead.

The reasonable cause rule

The law allows no non-wilful penalty if the violation was due to reasonable cause and the balance was properly reported. That rule is in 31 USC 5321. However, reasonable cause depends on your facts, and the IRS decides whether you meet it. Consequently, relying on it alone is less certain than a programme with set terms.

How do the Streamlined procedures fix missed FBAR filings?

Under the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, you file six years of FBARs with three years of returns. Eligible filers pay no FBAR penalty.

The Foreign route

The IRS page for US taxpayers residing outside the United States sets the terms. You file FBARs for the six most recent years whose due date has passed. You also file or amend three years of returns, with all information returns. You must have been outside the US for at least 330 full days in one of those three years, with no US abode. Finally, you certify that your failures were non-wilful.

How to mark the FBARs

The FBARs go online through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System, as FinCEN explains on its FBAR page. For the reason for late filing, the IRS says to select 'Other'. You then enter 'Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures' in the explanation box. Therefore, the FBARs are linked to your Streamlined submission.

The Domestic route

If you do not meet the non-residency test, the Domestic procedures may apply instead. The IRS page for US taxpayers residing in the United States requires that you filed original returns for the three years. You pay a penalty of 5% of the highest aggregate year-end balance of your foreign financial assets. Our article comparing Streamlined Foreign and Domestic explains both.

When neither route fits

The Streamlined procedures are for non-wilful conduct only. If your failure was wilful, the IRS points to its Criminal Investigation Voluntary Disclosure Practice. That route has different terms and needs a lawyer's advice. We prepare returns and FBARs; we do not advise on criminal exposure.

What penalties can missed FBAR filings bring?

The law allows a non-wilful penalty for each late or missing report and much larger penalties for wilful failures. The amounts are adjusted for inflation each year.

Non-wilful penalties

Under 31 CFR 1010.821, the non-wilful maximum is $16,536 for penalties assessed on or after 17 January 2025. In Bittner v. United States, decided in February 2023, the Supreme Court held that it applies per report, not per account. Therefore, six missed FBAR filings could mean six penalties, however many accounts each listed.

Wilful penalties

Wilful penalties are far heavier. Under section 5321, the maximum is the greater of a fixed amount or 50% of the account balance. The inflation-adjusted fixed amount is $165,353 for penalties assessed on or after 17 January 2025. Our article on FBAR penalties explains how the IRS approaches each type.

How far back the IRS can go

Section 5321 lets the IRS assess a civil FBAR penalty within six years of the date of the violation. That is one reason the Streamlined procedures ask for six years of FBARs. In other words, the six-year window matches the period in which penalties can still be assessed.

What records do you need to catch up?

You need the highest balance of each account in each year, plus the bank's name and address and the account number. Old statements are the usual source.

Maximum values

The FBAR reports each account's maximum value during the year. The IRS comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR says to use periodic statements. You report values in dollars, converted at the end-of-year rate. Consequently, a single statement per year is rarely enough, because the peak might fall mid-year.

Getting old statements from UK banks

UK banks can usually provide past statements on request, though older ones may take time. Start early, because the six-year window covers accounts you may have closed. If a statement cannot be found, we use the best available evidence and say how we estimated the figure. For example, an opening balance and the next statement can bracket the peak. Online banking downloads and annual summaries can also help fill gaps.

Keeping them afterwards

The IRS FBAR page asks you to keep records for five years from the FBAR due date. Those records include the account name and number, the bank's name and address, the account type and the maximum value. Therefore, keep the statements you used to prepare each catch-up FBAR.

Does it matter if the IRS contacts you first?

Yes. Once the IRS opens a civil examination of any of your returns, the Streamlined procedures are closed to you. Timing therefore matters a great deal.

The examination bar

The IRS page on Streamlined filing compliance procedures lists who cannot use them. You are excluded if the IRS has started a civil examination of your returns for any year. That applies even if the examination has nothing to do with foreign assets. Anyone under investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation is excluded as well. Consequently, coming forward first keeps the best option open.

FATCA reporting by UK banks

FATCA is the US law that makes foreign banks report accounts held by US persons. UK banks ask customers about US status and report US account holders. Therefore, the IRS may already hold data on your UK accounts. In our experience, that is a strong reason not to wait on missed FBAR filings.

No closing agreement

The Streamlined procedures do not end in a closing agreement. The IRS processes the returns like any others, and it does not acknowledge receipt. Penalties assessed before you applied are not abated either. In addition, you must file correctly in every later year. In short, the programme fixes the past, and regular filing protects the future.

Why acting early helps

Each year you wait, another FBAR falls due and another becomes late. Meanwhile, old statements become harder to obtain from UK banks. Therefore, starting now usually means a smaller, simpler catch-up. It also means you choose the route, rather than the IRS choosing it for you.

A worked example of missed FBAR filings

Consider a typical case. Ryan is 29, a US citizen who moved to London in 2018 to study and stayed to work. He has a UK current account and an easy-access savings account. He has filed US returns each year but never an FBAR. This is an illustrative example, not a real client.

First, we list Ryan's accounts and find each year's peak balance. His accounts passed $10,000 in every year from 2019. Next, because he filed returns, we check whether they reported all his income. They did not include his UK savings interest, so he needs amended returns. Therefore, his missed FBAR filings are part of a wider problem, and the Streamlined Foreign route fits. He files three amended returns, six FBARs and Form 14653, with no FBAR penalty.

What if Ryan's returns had been complete?

If his returns had reported every dollar of income, only the FBARs would be missing. Before July 2026, he might have used the delinquent FBAR route. Now there is no published penalty-free route for FBARs alone. Therefore, we would weigh reasonable cause carefully, with his full facts, before choosing how to file.

How US UK Tax Experts can help

US UK Tax Experts prepares catch-up FBARs, returns and Streamlined certifications from one file with your UK figures. We gather the balances, convert them correctly and check every year for income the returns missed. Then we prepare the whole submission so the FBARs, returns and certification agree. Our FBAR and FATCA service page explains what we file each year afterwards. Once the catch-up is done, we keep your FBAR on the same annual timetable as your returns.

Conclusion

Missed FBAR filings are common and usually fixable. Since July 2026, late FBARs on their own are not a penalty-free route. For most Americans in the UK, the Streamlined Foreign procedures are the safer path, covering six years of FBARs with no FBAR penalty for eligible filers. Start with your records, act before the IRS contacts you, and keep filing every year afterwards.

Contact us

If you have missed FBAR filings and want to catch up properly, email hello@usuktaxexperts.com or use our contact form. Tell us which years you missed and roughly what accounts you hold. We reply within one working day.