# 6 years FBAR Requirement



## vpnitro (Jul 3, 2015)

Hi, I'm a US citizen living in the Philippines since 1993 (while a teenager) and am now coming into compliance through the Streamlined Process. I'm confused about the 6 years FBAR requirement. Only 3 years of the last 6 years have my bank accounts reached $10,000 or more. Am I supposed to file the other three even if the account balances are below $10,000? Thanks in advance for any insight.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Officially, no, you don't need to back file for any year you didn't have to file. Some folks prefer to "prove the point" by filing to show that they didn't have a filing requirement. Up to you.
Cheers,
Bev


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## vpnitro (Jul 3, 2015)

Thank you for the reply Bev. An additional question if you don't mind, am I still allowed to claim the foreign earned income exclusion even if I'm filing through the streamlined procedure? Thanks again in advance.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

vpnitro said:


> Thank you for the reply Bev. An additional question if you don't mind, am I still allowed to claim the foreign earned income exclusion even if I'm filing through the streamlined procedure? Thanks again in advance.


Oh, no problem with that! You can take the foreign earned income exclusion any time - at least up to the time that the IRS jumps in and calculates your taxes for you based on the information that has come to their attention.
Cheers,
Bev


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## vpnitro (Jul 3, 2015)

Great thanks for the tip. I guess now it's a race between my returns getting to Austin and the IRS finding out about my delinquency since I had filed my first three FBARs this week under streamlined.


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