The FBAR Due Date Rules, Key Compliance Issues for 2025

FBAR Filing Deadline 2021: When is the FBAR Filed?

2025 FBAR Deadline/Due Date

With another tax season in full swing, many U.S. persons (U.S. Citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, and Foreign Nationals who meet the Substantial Presence Test) must file their annual FBAR in addition to filing a U.S. tax return. The FBAR (Foreign Bank And Financial Account Reporting) is a FinCEN Form (FinCEN Form 114) — that some taxpayers must file to disclose their foreign accounts, assets, and investments to the U.S. Government. While for many taxpayers this will just include reporting bank accounts, it may also include other types of accounts as well, such as investment accounts, mutual fund and ETF accounts, foreign pension/retirement plans, and certain life insurance policies. Let’s review the deadline/due date for the 2025 FBAR as well as what taxpayers should consider if they are out of compliance for prior year FBAR filings.

Deadline for Filing 2025 FBAR

The due date for filing the annual FBAR is still April 15th, but the FBAR is still on an automatic extension to October 15. This means that taxpayers who are required to file the annual FBAR have until October to file their FinCEN Form 114 without having to submit an extension form such as Form 4868 or Form 7004. It is important to note that the U.S. government reserves the right to change the due date, so taxpayers should always double-check to confirm the filing due date for the year in question.

Previously Unfiled FBAR

Some taxpayers will only learn about FBAR filing in the current year, but realize they should have been filing the form in prior years as well. Taxpayers who are out of compliance for prior year reporting should be cautious before filing the current year return to avoid a quiet disclosure — which can lead to significant fines and penalties. To assist taxpayers with compliance, the IRS has developed various offshore amnesty programs (see below) for filing late international information form reporting, such as the FBAR, Form 8938, Form 3520, Form 5471, Form 8621, and other international forms.

Late-Filing Disclosure Options

If a Taxpayer is out of compliance, there are various international offshore tax amnesty programs that they can apply to safely get into compliance. Depending on the specific facts and circumstances of the Taxpayers’ noncompliance, they can determine which program will work best for them. *Below please find separate links to each program with extensive details about the reporting requirements and examples.

Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (SFCP, Non-Willful)

The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures is one of the most common programs used by Taxpayers who are non-willful and qualify for either the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures or Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures.

Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (SDOP, Non-Willful)

Taxpayers who are considered U.S. residents and file timely tax returns each year but fail to report foreign income and/or assets may consider the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures.

Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP, Non-Willful)

Taxpayers who are foreign residents may consider the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures which is typically the preferred program of the two streamlined procedures. That is because under this program Taxpayers can file original returns and the 5% title 26 miscellaneous offshore penalty is waived.

Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures (DFSP, Non-Willful/Reasonable Cause)

Taxpayers who only missed the FBAR reporting and do not have any unreported income or other international information reporting forms to file may consider the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures — which may include a penalty waiver.

Delinquent International Information Returns Submission Procedures (DIIRSP, Reasonable Cause)

Taxpayers who have undisclosed foreign accounts and assets beyond just the FBAR — but have no unreported income — may consider the Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures. Before November 2020, the IRS was more inclined to issue a penalty waiver, but since then this type of delinquency procedure submission has morphed into a reasonable cause request to waive or abate penalties.

IRS Voluntary Disclosure Procedures (VDP, Willful)

For Taxpayers who are considered willful, the IRS offers a separate program referred to as the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP). This program is used by Taxpayers to disclose both unreported domestic and offshore assets and income (before 2018, there was a separate program that only dealt with offshore assets (OVDP), but that program merged back into the traditional voluntary disclosure program (VDP).

Quiet Disclosure

Quiet disclosure is when a Taxpayer submits information to the IRS regarding the undisclosed foreign accounts, assets, and income but they do not go through one of the approved offshore disclosure programs. This is illegal and the IRS has indicated they have every intention of investigating Taxpayers who they discover intentionally sought to file delinquent forms to avoid the penalty instead of submitting to one of the approved methods identified above.

Late Filing Penalties May be Reduced or Avoided

For Taxpayers who did not timely file their FBAR and/or other international information-related reporting forms, the IRS has developed many different offshore amnesty programs to assist Taxpayers with safely getting into compliance. These programs may reduce or even eliminate international reporting penalties.

Current Year vs. Prior Year Non-Compliance

Once a Taxpayer missed the tax and reporting (such as FBAR and FATCA) requirements for prior years, they will want to be careful before submitting their information to the IRS in the current year. That is because they may risk making a quiet disclosure if they just begin filing forward in the current year and/or mass filing previous year forms without doing so under one of the approved IRS offshore submission procedures. Before filing prior untimely foreign reporting forms, Taxpayers should consider speaking with a Board-Certified Tax Law Specialist who specializes exclusively in these types of offshore disclosure matters.

Avoid False Offshore Disclosure Submissions (Willful vs Non-Willful)

In recent years, the IRS has increased the level of scrutiny for certain streamlined procedure submissions. When a person is non-willful, they have an excellent chance of making a successful submission to Streamlined Procedures. If they are willful, they would submit to the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program instead. But, if a willful Taxpayer submits an intentionally false narrative under the Streamlined Procedures (and gets caught), they may become subject to significant fines and penalties. 

Need Help Finding an Experienced Offshore Tax Attorney?

When it comes to hiring an experienced international tax attorney to represent you for unreported foreign and offshore account reporting, it can become overwhelming for Taxpayers trying to trek through all the false information and nonsense they will find in their online research. There are only a handful of attorneys worldwide who are Board-Certified Tax Specialists and who specialize exclusively in offshore disclosure and international tax amnesty reporting.  *This resource may help Taxpayers seeking to hire offshore tax counsel: How to Hire an Offshore Disclosure Lawyer.

Golding & Golding: About Our International Tax Law Firm

Golding & Golding specializes exclusively in international tax, specifically IRS offshore disclosure.  Contact our firm today for assistance.