The IRS has not announced an end date. As of November 2026 the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedure is open. It is an administrative program, not a law, so the IRS can change or close it without notice. In July 2026 it withdrew, without announcement, the separate procedure for people who had only missed FBARs, which leaves Streamlined as the main way for Americans abroad to catch up without penalties.
What it waives
If you live outside the US and your missed filings were not willful, you file the last three years of tax returns, the last six years of FBARs, and a signed statement explaining how it happened. In return the IRS waives failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties, accuracy-related penalties, information return penalties and FBAR penalties.
Those are the penalties that matter: from $10,000 per missing form, per year, and FBAR penalties that can exceed $16,000 a year. Unlike the version for US residents, there is no 5% penalty on your foreign assets.
What it usually costs in tax
For Americans in high-tax European countries, the tax due on these returns is often nil, because foreign tax credits and the foreign earned income exclusion cancel it. Parents may even come out ahead: see Can I receive a tax refund even if I haven't paid US tax?
Who qualifies
- In at least one of the last three years, you had no US home and spent at least 330 full days outside the US. Green card holders have a different test.
- Your failures came from negligence, mistake or a good-faith misunderstanding of the rules.
- The IRS has not opened an examination of any of your returns.
- You have a valid taxpayer ID. US citizens need a Social Security number; others can apply for an ITIN with the filing.
What we do
The analysis is free. We confirm you qualify, then prepare the three returns with every required form, the six FBARs and the non-willful statement, which is the part the IRS reads most closely. Pricing is by form, and every return is prepared by an Enrolled Agent.
Once filed, you are current, your bank's W-9 becomes a formality, and later years are routine. The program stays open to you only until the IRS closes it or opens an examination of your returns, and neither comes with a warning.