# Delinquent FBAR filing question



## Rosesarered449 (Apr 24, 2021)

Hello Everyone! 

Firstly, this forum has been amazing for finding out information. I had a specific question I wanted to ask - I've seen very similar ones, but not quite with the same circumstances, so apologies for asking a very similar question!

My partner is a US citizen, living in the UK since he was 8 (been here 27 years). I'm a UK citizen. He's filed his taxes every year & posts them in, but we now know he should have filed an FBAR in 2017, 2018 and 2019 as he had over $10,000 combined - he didn't think he had to file it. 
He is now massively panicking after seeing the penalties about filing these FBARs, and we thought he needed to do a streamlined foreign procedure, but I don't actually think he does as his tax forms were all correct, he just didn't fill out the FBARs. He's not avoided paying any tax. So I'm trying to reassure him he can file the delinquent FBARs online for those 3 years and that'll be that.
We've looked on the IRAS form and it states that you can file the FBARs - I had a few quick questions;


Am I right in thinking in he doesn't need to do a streamlined foreign procedure as his tax forms were all correct (bar not filing the FBARs)
It states 'please add a statement about why you are filing the FBARs late' but then it states 'pick a reason from the drop down box as to why you are filing these late'. When he picks 'didn't know had to file' it doesn't give any text box to write a statement. Is he supposed to write a separate statement and post it?

- My partner ticked that he did not need to file the FBARs on section B of his 1040 as he didn't think he needed to. Will this negatively affect him being able to file the FBARs late without any penalties?

Thank you so much for your time. It's been an intense few days trying to figure out what to do!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Assuming that your partner has only just exceeded the $10,000 threshold in 2017 and hasn't amassed a small fortune in the meantime, it might be way simpler to just start filing the FBAR for 2020 and go forward. Honestly, they don't really bother with the small change folks - and in most cases, if his "foreign" banks are reporting their US clients to the IRS, it's only when the account balance exceeds $50,000. 

Basically, they just file the FBARs away for use if there is some "oddity" on their income tax filing. When and if he starts getting (well) into 6 or more figures, then he needs to be a bit more careful about maintaining some level of consistency. But odds are, he'll hear nothing about the "missing" FBARs - or if he does, he can say that he only realized in 2020 that he needed to file and leave it at that.


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## Rosesarered449 (Apr 24, 2021)

Bevdeforges said:


> Assuming that your partner has only just exceeded the $10,000 threshold in 2017 and hasn't amassed a small fortune in the meantime, it might be way simpler to just start filing the FBAR for 2020 and go forward. Honestly, they don't really bother with the small change folks - and in most cases, if his "foreign" banks are reporting their US clients to the IRS, it's only when the account balance exceeds $50,000.
> 
> Basically, they just file the FBARs away for use if there is some "oddity" on their income tax filing. When and if he starts getting (well) into 6 or more figures, then he needs to be a bit more careful about maintaining some level of consistency. But odds are, he'll hear nothing about the "missing" FBARs - or if he does, he can say that he only realized in 2020 that he needed to file and leave it at that.


Thank you Bevdeforges - that makes sense and is really good to know  you're right, he just exceeded in 2017, but definitely hasn't amassed a small fortune haha. We're going to discuss it more tonight - I think he may still want to file them as he is considering actually renouncing his citizenship and it seems that could trigger a closer look at everything, but I think he's at least convinced that he can file the late forms without needing to do the streamlined procedure & the f14653 form

I've done some more googling (so much googling) and I think he can file the 3x late FBARs and just state that he didn't know he had to file them in the drop box. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about it that he did tick that he didn't need to file the FBARs on section B of his 1040 (as he didn't think he needed to) - hopefully this shouldn't affect him being able to file the late FBARs with no penalties, should it?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Even if he does eventually renounce, they honestly don't look at that tax information all that closely (or, to be honest, at all) unless you've got huge amounts of income or investments. I know of folks who have simply skipped the step of doing that "expat tax" return and never heard a word about it. And despite what you sometimes see online, at no place during the renunciation process do they ask you about your tax situation. There are several "reminders" in the paperwork that renouncing doesn't free you from any tax obligations prior to the date of renunciation but that's as far as it goes.


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

In your shoes, I would probably back file the FBARs but I would not bother filing amended returns - particularly if interest earned on those accounts was reported.


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## Rosesarered449 (Apr 24, 2021)

Thank you both Bevdeforges and Moulard - the advice is much appreciated! After discussions about all options, he's going to back file the FBARs and just put 'I didn't know I had to file'. His tax returns have all been correctly reported, so once he files the FBARs he should be all in line with things.


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