# Help getting started with Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure



## chriskway

Hi,
Here is my situation: French/American citizen
28 years old, single, no children, born in France, lived in the US from 1 to 10 y.o.
Then 10 to 26 in France. Currently living in Canada, but soon going back to France.
Stayed in NYC in 2012 for a few months, worked a bit but nothing crazy.
NEVER payed my taxes in the US, I always say no when asked if American when opening bank accounts.
Recently I received an email for a bank account that I closed nearly a year ago here in Canada from "CB Foreign Tax Support". A quick google search and I understand this is in relation to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. I haven't answered the mail and they no longer have my physical address nor phone number. 
All-in-all, the whole situation freaked me out and I'm starting to look into Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure as I think my situation fits the requirements of "non-willingness". 
So I contacted an accountant that sent me a quote: for 6 years of FBAR & 3 years of returns, 2000USD. Too much for me so I'm going to try to do it myself. This is where it gets confusing. There are different versions on this forum and other sites on the forms to fill in that I don't really know any more.
To give you an idea, all my money is from jobs I had, never made money selling houses, shares etc... just salary.
2015: 9K €
2016: 11K €
2017: 25K CAD
Why do forms have "ez" versions of them? Like form 2555 and form 2555ez?

From what I gathered here is what I should send in to the IRS:
Form 14653 + letter explaining specific reasons for your failure to report all income
For 2015: form 1040 and 2555 (with a copy of form 14653 attached)
For 2016: form 1040 and 2555 (with a copy of form 14653 attached)
For 2017: form 1040 and 2555 (with a copy of form 14653 attached)
And with the mention "steamlined foreign offshore" written at the top of all documents.

Sorry for getting into to much detail, it's just that I can't find any guide on internet on how to do this, so I'm pretty much in the dark. Also the fact that I'm discovering all this at the same time doesn't help. 
Any help will be greatly appreciated.


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## chriskway

sorry for the double thread! If the admin could delete one it would be great!


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## Nononymous

Excellent, I can recycle my boilerplate text! The short version is: do nothing, particularly as you do not have a US birthplace. If the bank account was closed a year ago, just ignore the e-mail. (Future plans to move to the US would potentially change your calculation.)

--

If you are an "Accidental American" - a dual citizen who has lived all or most of your life outside of the US, with no US financial ties - and you discover that you have US tax filing obligations, the absolute WORST thing you can do is rush off to a CPA and begin preparing US tax returns. 

Stop, slow down, do some research. If the IRS hasn't found you yet, they aren't going to find you anytime soon. Furthermore, if you are a citizen in your country of residence, and have no US assets or income, the IRS has absolutely no ability to penalize you in any way, shape or form.

The most likely trigger for Accidentals discovering their filing obligations is a FATCA/CRS letter from their bank. The best response is to simply answer "no" to any questions about US citizenship or tax residency. In come countries (e.g. Canada) simple self-certification is all that is required, one small lie and the problem is solved. In other countries (e.g. Switzerland) enforcement is taken more seriously and there are significant restrictions on the services available to US citizens. If you are born outside the US, it is easy to conceal US citizenship and continue with life undisturbed. If however you have a US birthplace on your national ID, life can be quite difficult and often the only option is to renounce US citizenship at a cost of $2350. (Note that you do NOT need to become tax compliant to renounce, nor do you need to pay any exit tax the US decides that it has a right to collect.)

Even if you are subject to FATCA reporting, that does not mean the IRS will come after you, as they would have no ability to collect penalties. Whether you renounce or not, there is no reason to become tax compliant. Accidental Americans who discover these obligations should NOT enter the US tax system.


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## chriskway

Thank you Nononymous, I actually saw your response in another thread and I just don't think it's the best idea for me at this point. Many banks have agreements with the IRS and if you are discovered some day by accident, they could freeze your accounts from what I read from testimonies of certain US citizens living abroad. The risk is just to great at this point. The consequences can be life crippling. I appreciate your opinion, it's just I have been doing this for years now and I have nightmares at night on the IRS simply closing my accounts and becoming a homeless person (lol but no joke).
I still feel like I should investigate this opportunity (Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure) as according to the accountant I spoke to, in his opinion this option will soon be unavailable (end of year). Who know's what tomorrow holds? Maybe tomorrow the IRS will tighten even more controls for US citizens abroad? It seems like it's the right time to jump on the tax train, even more so for me since there won't be any fees (I didn't make enough to actually pay taxes). 
If you have any info on the actual Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure and how to fill in the documents it would be very nice!


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## Nononymous

Of course accountants will tell you that the streamlined program is ending soon - they want your business. 

Slow down, take a deep breath, do some research: the American Expatriates FB group, the Isaac Brock Society site. There's no rush.

Where have you heard of Americans having their accounts frozen? There are very limited reports of this having happened to Dutch and Swiss residents due to bank paranoia and overreaction. The IRS has no ability to freeze accounts or seize funds outside the US. Switzerland is particularly bad, as their banks essentially created this mess.

You are a French citizen, born in France, with a French passport. You have no trace of US citizenship, and nothing to fear. Futhermore, the IRS (with very few exceptions) cannot touch you outside the US. (One of those exceptions being Canada if you do not acquire Canadian citizenship - but you are not currently in any danger.) 

If you need to comply to sleep nights, so be it. Just be aware that the problems won't happen right away - at first the forms will be simple and you won't owe any tax on a low income - but later in life it can bite you badly if you make a pile of money selling your house, or you save with some tax-protected retirement schemes in your country of residence, or god forbid you invest in mutual funds or try to start your own business. That's when the pain starts. (See the the other thread, entitled "private pensions" - he can't plan a normal financial life in the UK with a US birthplace and tax compliance.)


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## Bevdeforges

A couple additional factors to consider:

On what basis are you a US citizen? From what you've indicated, I'm assuming that one of your parents was a citizen at the time of your birth. Did they register your birth with the consulate and do you have a US social security number? (You'll have to have one in order to file US taxes.) But honestly, the US has no idea how many citizens it has living overseas, nor who they are. 

Do you currently have a US passport? While they do ask you for your US SSN when you renew your passport, there is no indication that they do much of anything with that information. There are far too many very legitimate reasons why someone with a SSN may not be required to file US taxes in any given year. (Filing threshold for a single taxpayer is around $10K, which means you may not have been required to file in 2015 from what you've given us.)

For Streamlined purposes, you will need to file current tax year (which is still 2017) plus three years in arrears - so back to 2014. If you wait until January 2019, you will file 2018, plus 2015 to 2017. (Just to underline the notion that you can bide your time while considering your options.)

Do you have any US financial accounts? (Bank, investment, retirement?) These are really the only accounts that the IRS could potentially get access to if they were (for some reason) to decide to come after you.

With the amounts of income you're talking about - especially all from jobs (i.e. "earned income") - you owe no taxes so you're not in any particular danger of being pursued by the IRS. If you weren't required to file in 2015, you could simply file 2016 and 2017 "late" and given that the penalty for late filing is a percentage of the tax due, your penalty would be a whopping $0 without having to do the Streamlined thing at all.

You've got a number of options here and you can take some time to figure out what you need or want to do, including continuing on as you have been doing.
Cheers,
Bev


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## chriskway

Thanks for the answer Bevdeforges.
Yes I do have a SSN and I have a valid US passport. I don't have any accounts in the US nor investments/retirements.
The option you described where I would file 2016 & 2017 late, is that what they call the "Quiet Disclosure"? 
To be honest I was more afraid of the FBAR penalties of 10K USD for every year not filed... What is your take on that?
@Nononymous yeah the testimony that I read were from a US/dutch citizens that had his accounts froze.
Cheers to both of you, having support from people that know what they are talking about feels good, even though it's not necessarily what I was expecting 
I'm checking out ***************** at the moment! Interesting stuff!


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## Nononymous

The Dutch case I heard about too had nothing to do with the IRS directly, it was overcautious Dutch banks doing crazy stuff out of paranoia.

Did you file tax returns for the few months when you worked in NYC? (Not a big deal if you did.)

Honestly, you are the perfect example of someone who is scared into filing but has no business doing so. Far better to stay off the radar.

FBAR fines are not a concern. There literally has not been a single FBAR fine directed at an ordinary non-criminal expat, the few cases we've seen have been against US residents hiding money abroad.


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## Nononymous

Also, out of curiosity, can you post the text of the e-mail you received? Delete any personal information of course, but include as much detail as you can, such as the name of the bank.


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## chriskway

I didn't file my tax when I was in NY, I just assumed I hadn't made enough. Thank you for your answers, I'm definitely going to do more research on the subject before sending my info to the IRS.
Here is the mail I received a couple months ago from CB Foreign Tax Support:
It's in french but I can translate if needed. I'm currently living in Quebec and the bank in RBC but luckily I closed this account last year. I still surprised they sent me this email since I used my french passport to open an account. I remember speaking English to the person with whom I opened the account. Maybe he assumed by my accent I might be American, who knows!

_Monsieur XXXXXX

La présente fait suite à la lettre dans laquelle nous vous demandions de fournir des renseignements précis concernant votre résidence aux fins de l’impôt. Il est important que vous nous fournissiez ces renseignements d’ici le 2019/12/30 afin que les renseignements transmis au gouvernement soient exacts.

*** Veuillez ignorer le présent courriel si vous avez déjà envoyé vos documents. ***

Si vous n’avez pas reçu la lettre susmentionnée ou si vous avez des questions, n’hésitez pas à communiquer avec nous au 1 855 873-7232 (en Amérique du Nord) ou au 1 416 348-2089 (à frais virés, à l’extérieur de l’Amérique du Nord), entre 8 h et 20 h (heure de l’Est), du lundi au vendredi (à l’exception des jours fériés). 

Veuillez indiquer le numéro de référence suivant : XXXXXX.
Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, nos salutations distinguées.

Équipe de vérification des renseignements clients RBC _


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## Nononymous

1. The letter

Okay, interesting - merci Google - it's just a follow-up because they sent you a letter which you obviously didn't receive. I'm an RBC customer and no such letter was ever sent to me, so that's strange. Does the bank have any knowledge of your being French, or having lived in the US - did you give them a New York address or phone number, or show them a US passport as ID?

I suspect you can just ignore it if you've closed the account. But if you do call them to clear it up, just say you're French and that's that. They might require your French tax ID number to report your Canadian accounts to France under CRS. Keep silent on the subject of US citizenship.

2. Your situation

How were you employed in New York - did the employer have your SSN, and were you paid by paycheque with anything withheld? It could be that the IRS knows nothing of your existence, and that your only points of contact with the US government have been passport renewal. In which you are off the radar and should stay that way.


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## Bevdeforges

One other thing - the banks are starting to send these sorts of letters to all their "foreign" customers. It's not just to the US ones. Unless you've admitted your US citizenship to them previously, it's probably because of your French citizenship. And frankly, we Frenchies don't have a tax i.d. number. (If you're filing taxes in France there are at least two or three different numbers used for identification, depending on what you're trying to do. When asked, I just reply "not applicable")

The FBAR is required only if your foreign accounts total up to $10,000 or more. If yours don't then you have no FBAR obligation.

Filing late "may" be looked at as "quiet disclosure" - but it can also simply be late filing. The difference between Streamlined and "late filing" is that, once you've done the Streamlined filing, you are exonerated for any prior years in which you didn't file. With late filing, the earlier years remain open should the IRS have any reason to look into them. But at your age, there is an excellent chance that your income (or at least any income the IRS might have reason to know of) wasn't sufficient for you to have had to file, so there's no issue.
Cheers,
Bev


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