Years behind, and only just found out.
It is one of the most common positions we see, and in the great majority of cases a fixable one. What matters is disclosing on your terms rather than after the authorities raise it.
You are not the exception
Most people discover their filing obligation years after it started — a bank asks about US status, a mortgage application raises it, or a friend mentions it in passing. The obligation existed the whole time; nobody told them.
The instinct to panic is understandable and usually misplaced. There is a defined route back, and it exists precisely because this situation is so common.
Streamlined, if it was not deliberate
The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures cover taxpayers whose failure to file was non-wilful. The submission is three years of returns, six years of FBARs, and a signed certification explaining why the omission was not deliberate.
Where the IRS accepts it, the failure-to-file and FBAR penalties that would otherwise apply are waived. The load-bearing word is non-wilful: if there is history suggesting you knew and chose not to act, this is the wrong route and using it makes the position considerably worse.
- Three years of amended or delinquent returns
- Six years of FBARs
- Form 14653 non-wilfulness certification
- Any tax due, plus interest, on the reconstructed years
The outcome is usually better than feared
Once foreign tax credits are applied across the reconstructed years, the tax actually owed is frequently small or nil. It is the unfiled disclosure forms, not the tax, that create the exposure.
Where the same history spans both the IRS and HMRC we deal with both, rather than fixing one and leaving the other open for someone to find later.
Related pages
- Glossary
Streamlined Procedures: definition
The catch-up route: 3 years of returns, 6 of FBARs, one certification — penalty-free on the Foreign route.
- Service
Streamlined catch-up filing
Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures: 3 years of returns, 6 years of FBARs and the non-wilful certification, with no penalty on the Foreign route.
- Free tool
Streamlined eligibility checker
Free checker: answer six questions to see whether the Streamlined Foreign or Domestic Offshore route fits your catch-up - and what each would cost.
- Pillar guide
Tax specialists for US and UK
What US and UK tax specialists handle that a general accountant does not: residence tests, treaty relief, FBAR, PFICs, pensions, property and catch-up filings.
- Pillar guide
Accountants for US and UK
How to choose accountants for US and UK tax: what each credential permits, how to verify it, what drives the fee, and when you do not need a specialist.
- Service
1040-X amended returns
Form 1040-X amended return preparation: claiming missed foreign tax credits and exclusions, fixing PFIC and treaty errors, and the three-year refund window.
Further reading
- Filing your first American returns from Britain: what catch-up really involves
People expect five years of paperwork. The usual route asks for three returns and six account reports, posted together on paper, with the red ink in the right place.
- Streamlined filing cost: the three numbers that decide it
What does a streamlined catch-up actually cost? Three numbers decide it - and the biggest one is often zero for expats. Here is the honest breakdown.
- Streamlined filing: getting current, penalty-free on the Foreign Offshore route
The route back for people who did not know they had to file. Narrower than it looks, and worth assessing before you submit anything.
Last reviewed . Thresholds and rates change annually — check figures against the current tax year before relying on them.
Behind and want to know how bad it is?
The first call costs nothing and is confidential. Usually the exposure is narrower than people expect.