Who this is for: This guide is for US citizens and green card holders in France who have not been filing US tax returns or FBARs, did not do so intentionally, and want to get compliant without triggering the severe penalties that apply to willful non-compliance.
Many Americans in France discover their US filing duties years after moving, often when a French bank asks about FATCA or when they try to renew a US passport. If that is you, the situation is usually fixable. The IRS runs a dedicated route for exactly this circumstance: the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures. Used correctly, it lets people whose non-compliance was genuinely unintentional become current, in most expat cases without penalties. If your gap is only unfiled FBARs and your income was always reported, start with our guide to FBAR and FinCEN Form 114 instead, because a narrower route may apply.
What the Streamlined Procedures are
The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures are an IRS voluntary compliance program for taxpayers who failed to report foreign income or file foreign information returns (including FBARs) because they did not know they had to, not because they were hiding anything. There are two tracks: the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP) for people living outside the US, and the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (SDOP) for those inside the US. Americans in France almost always use the foreign track, SFOP.
The program remains available. The IRS continues to list it as an active option on its streamlined filing compliance procedures page, and it was not changed by the US tax legislation enacted in 2025. The procedures were first offered in September 2012 and later widened, including removal of the original 1,500 dollar tax threshold and of the risk assessment step.
Do you qualify? The four eligibility tests
Eligibility is not a judgement call about how sympathetic your situation is. It comes down to four specific tests, all of which have to be satisfied before you file.
Test | What it requires |
Non-willful conduct | Your failure to file resulted from negligence, inadvertence or mistake, or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law. You certify this under penalties of perjury. |
Non-residency (for SFOP) | In at least one of the most recent three years for which the filing deadline has passed, you had no US abode and were physically outside the US for at least 330 full days. |
No open IRS examination | If the IRS has begun a civil examination of your returns for any year, or you are under criminal investigation, you cannot use the streamlined procedures. |
A valid taxpayer number | Every return in the submission needs a valid SSN or ITIN. If you are not eligible for an SSN and have no ITIN, the package can go in accompanied by a complete ITIN application. |
The non-residency test, in practice
The 330-day count is the part people get wrong. You do not need to have been outside the US for 330 days in every one of the three years, only in at least one of them, and that year must be one for which the return deadline has already passed. The abode question is separate from where you own property: under the rules the IRS applies here, keeping a dwelling in the US, or spending time there temporarily, does not automatically mean your abode is American. For most people who have genuinely moved their life to France, both parts are met comfortably, but the year you pick matters and should be chosen deliberately.
If you have already quietly back-filed
People who previously sent in late or amended returns on their own, outside any formal program, can still use the streamlined procedures. The one catch is that penalties already assessed on those earlier filings will not be cancelled. That history does not disqualify you, but it does need to be disclosed accurately.
What you actually file
Under the foreign procedures you generally submit:
- The most recent 3 years of delinquent or amended US federal tax returns.
- The most recent 6 years of FBARs (FinCEN Form 114), filed electronically.
- Form 14653, a certification signed under penalties of perjury stating that your failure to file was non-willful, with a narrative explaining your circumstances.
- Payment of any tax and interest due on the amended returns.
Component | How far back | Form | How it is submitted |
Federal tax returns | 3 most recent years past the deadline | 1040, or 1040-X if amending | Paper, in the streamlined package |
Foreign bank account reports | 6 most recent years | FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) | Electronically, separately from the package |
Non-willful certification | Covers the whole period | Form 14653 | Paper, original signature, with a copy attached to each return |
Tax and interest owed | On the returns filed | Payment with the submission | Paper, with the package |
Why the package has to go on paper
This surprises people used to e-filing. The IRS does not accept streamlined submissions electronically. The returns, the signed Form 14653 and the payment all go by post, in one package, to a dedicated streamlined unit at the Austin service centre in Texas. The FBARs are the exception and are filed electronically in the normal way. Full details are on the IRS page for US taxpayers residing outside the United States.
The non-willful certification is the heart of it
Eligibility turns on one word: non-willful. The IRS defines this as conduct due to negligence, inadvertence or mistake, or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law. The Form 14653 narrative, where you explain in your own words why you did not file, is the most important document in the whole submission. A weak, inconsistent or evasive narrative can undermine the entire application, and a false certification is itself a serious offence.
What the narrative has to do
- Explain what you understood your obligations to be, and why, in specific rather than general terms.
- Cover the whole period, including how the accounts and income arose and how they were managed.
- Account for anything that looks inconsistent, such as having used a tax adviser, or having ticked a box about foreign accounts on an earlier return.
- Match the numbers in the returns and FBARs exactly, because the narrative and the filings are read together.
For that reason this is not a form to improvise. If there is any question about whether your conduct could be seen as willful, that needs to be assessed before you file, not after. Where the answer is genuinely that conduct was willful, the IRS Criminal Investigation Voluntary Disclosure Practice is the route to discuss with a lawyer, not this one.
Foreign vs domestic: why the difference matters
Foreign (SFOP) | Domestic (SDOP) | |
Who qualifies | US persons meeting a non-residency test (e.g. abroad and outside the US 330+ days) | US persons who do not meet the non-residency test |
Miscellaneous penalty | None | 5% of the highest aggregate balance of foreign assets |
Certification form | Form 14653 | Form 14654 |
Typical user in France | Americans genuinely resident in France | Rarely relevant for France residents |
The headline advantage for Americans living in France is that the foreign procedures carry no miscellaneous penalty. You pay the back tax and interest, but not the 5% asset penalty that applies domestically, and not the FBAR penalties that would otherwise be on the table. Because France and the US have a tax treaty and a foreign tax credit mechanism, the actual tax due once French tax is credited is often far smaller than people fear. Our guide on avoiding double taxation between France and the US explains how that interacts.
What happens after you file
Expectations matter here, because the process is quieter than most people assume.
What you might expect | What actually happens |
A confirmation that the IRS received it | There is none. The IRS does not acknowledge receipt of a streamlined submission. |
A settlement or closing agreement | There is none. The process does not end in a signed agreement. |
An automatic audit | No. Streamlined returns are processed like any other return and are not audited automatically, though they can be selected for examination in the normal way. |
That the matter is closed forever | Not quite. Submissions can be checked against bank and third-party data, and you are expected to file normally for all future years. |
The practical implication is that going forward compliance is part of the deal. Getting current through the streamlined procedures and then falling behind again undoes the benefit. Our US expat tax filing guide for Americans in France covers what the ongoing annual position looks like.
What not to do
- Do not simply back-file quietly. A so-called quiet disclosure can forfeit the protection the program offers and is viewed unfavourably.
- Do not use Streamlined if your conduct was willful. Certifying non-willful when it was not is a false statement with criminal exposure; other routes exist for those cases.
- Do not guess at the residency test. SFOP eligibility depends on meeting specific non-residency criteria.
- Do not file the 14653 narrative without care. It is scrutinised, and consistency with the rest of the submission matters.
- Do not assume streamlined is the only option. If your income was always reported and only FBARs are missing, the delinquent FBAR submission procedures may be a lighter route.
How Expand CPA can help
Expand CPA is a Franco-American accounting and tax advisory firm with offices in Paris, New York and Tel Aviv. We regularly bring Americans in France back into US compliance through the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, from assessing whether your situation truly qualifies as non-willful, to preparing the three years of returns and six years of FBARs, drafting the Form 14653 narrative, and coordinating with the French side of your taxes. You can read more about our streamlined compliance procedures service, or get in touch for a confidential review. If you think you may be behind, the safest first step is that review, before anything is filed.
Disclaimer: Program terms and eligibility can change, and whether the Streamlined route is right depends on your specific facts, including whether your conduct was non-willful. This article is general information only, not tax or legal advice. Please consult a qualified adviser before acting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Streamlined program still available?
Yes. The IRS continues to list it as an active option, and it was not changed by the US tax legislation enacted in 2025.
Will I pay penalties?
Under the foreign procedures (SFOP), there is no miscellaneous penalty. You pay any back tax and interest due on the amended returns.
What does non-willful mean?
Conduct due to negligence, inadvertence, mistake, or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law. You certify this on Form 14653.
