FBAR Penalty Calculator

If you missed one or more FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) filings, this calculator shows your maximum civil penalty exposure and compares it against what IRS Streamlined Procedures would cost. Enter your situation, then see the numbers side by side.

How FBAR civil penalties actually work

Non-willful penalties: per annual report, not per account

The Bank Secrecy Act imposes civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation for non-willful FBAR failures, adjusted annually for inflation to $16,536 per violation as of 2025/2026.² For years, the government argued a "violation" meant each account — so five accounts over five years = 25 penalties ($413,400). The Supreme Court rejected that in Bittner v. United States in 2023: a "violation" is a single annual report, regardless of how many accounts it covers.¹ Five years of missed FBARs = five violations, maximum $82,680.

This is still significant — and it applies even when you owe zero additional income tax. An expat who reported all income correctly and had no US tax liability can still face $82,680 in FBAR penalties for five years of late filings.

Willful penalties: potentially catastrophic

If the IRS establishes that your FBAR failure was willful — meaning deliberate, as opposed to negligent or mistaken — the penalty jumps to the greater of $165,353 or 50% of the highest aggregate balance in the account during the year.² Per the government's reading, willful violations can be assessed per year (and sometimes per account, though post-Bittner litigation continues). Five years of willful non-filing on a $500,000 account = potential exposure of $250,000 per year = $1,250,000 total.

"Willful" includes not just intentional concealment but also reckless disregard of a known legal obligation. Courts have found willfulness where a taxpayer signed a return with a foreign accounts question ("at any time during 2023 did you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a financial account in a foreign country?") and answered "no" despite having accounts. Answering that question incorrectly while knowing you have foreign accounts is a significant risk factor.

The Bittner decision: what changed and what didn't

Bittner v. United States, 598 U.S. 214 (2023), settled the per-report vs. per-account split in circuit courts. For non-willful violations, penalties are now clearly per-report.¹ For willful violations, the government often continues to argue per-account-per-year in district courts — post-Bittner willful cases frequently involve multi-million-dollar assessments on multi-account situations. The Bittner ruling did not address willful penalties, and courts continue to vary on that question.

Compliance paths explained

Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP) — 0% penalty

If you are living abroad and your conduct was non-willful, SFOP eliminates all FBAR penalties. You file 3 years of amended or original returns, 6 years of delinquent FBARs, and a Form 14653 non-willfulness certification. Pay any back tax owed plus statutory interest. No FBAR penalties, no accuracy-related penalties, no information-return penalties for late-filed forms included in the submission.³

SFOP is closed if: (1) the IRS has initiated civil examination of any year you intend to correct, (2) you are under criminal investigation, or (3) you cannot in good faith certify non-willfulness. The window is open as long as none of those conditions apply — which is the case for most expats who simply didn't know about FBAR.

Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (SDOP) — 5% penalty

If you are back in the United States and can certify non-willful conduct, SDOP applies a flat 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty calculated on the highest aggregate year-end balance of all covered foreign financial accounts and assets across the 6-year lookback period.³ Same filing requirements as SFOP: 3 years of returns, 6 FBARs, non-willfulness certification. The 5% is usually far less than the $16,536/year maximum non-willful penalty, especially for people with multiple accounts.

Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedure (DFSP) — potentially $0

If you filed all required US income tax returns, properly reported all income from the foreign accounts, and have not been contacted by the IRS, you may be able to file the late FBARs directly through the BSA E-Filing System with an explanation of why they were late. The IRS may not assess any penalty in this case — it has discretion not to penalize when there's no tax impact. This is not a formal program and the IRS is not bound to waive penalties, but it works for many taxpayers with clean return histories who simply missed the separate FBAR filing.⁴

Voluntary Disclosure Practice (VDP) — for willful cases

If your conduct may have been willful — or if you're unsure and the risk is high — the IRS Criminal Investigation Voluntary Disclosure Practice provides a path that generally avoids criminal prosecution in exchange for full disclosure and payment of taxes, interest, and civil penalties. The penalty structure under VDP is more severe than streamlined (civil FBAR penalties apply), but it provides significant protection against criminal referral. VDP requires a pre-clearance request before submitting. This should only be entered with experienced legal counsel.⁵

Sources

1. Bittner v. United States, 598 U.S. 214 (2023) — SCOTUS ruling that non-willful FBAR penalties are assessed per annual report, not per account
2. 31 U.S.C. § 5321 — Civil FBAR penalties (Cornell Law LII): non-willful up to $10,000 (inflation-adjusted); willful: greater of $100,000 or 50% of account balance (both inflation-adjusted annually under 31 CFR 1010.821)
3. IRS.gov — Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures: SFOP (0% penalty, living abroad) and SDOP (5% offshore penalty, US residents)
4. IRS.gov — Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures: filing path for taxpayers whose income was already properly reported
5. IRS.gov — Criminal Investigation Voluntary Disclosure Practice: path for potentially willful filers seeking criminal liability protection

Penalty amounts verified May 2026 against 31 CFR 1010.821 and FinCEN inflation adjustment publications. 2026 amounts are unchanged from 2025 due to a lapse in CPI-U data availability. This calculator is an educational estimate; it does not constitute legal or tax advice. FBAR penalty situations — particularly willful cases — require qualified legal counsel before any action is taken.