Were you unaware of the need to file US taxes whilst outside the US? Did you mean to complete them but then a major move or life event took over?
– Relax, you may qualify to file under the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedure to bring your taxes up to date without late filing penalties or interest.
Streamlined (Offshore) Filing Compliance Procedure
What you need to know:
Purpose – the Streamlined (Offshore) Filing Compliance Procedure has been set up by the IRS to allow US taxpayers living abroad to bring their tax compliance up to date without facing large bills for penalties and interest.
Eligibility – to qualify for this procedure the taxpayer must:
- be an individual (not company or estate) with a valid Tax Identification Number
- not be subject to an already-initiated tax investigation
- be able to certify that their non-compliance was not willful. Non-willful reasons include negligence, inadvertence, or mistake or conduct that is the result of a good faith misunderstanding of the requirements of the law
- resided outside the US and meets the non-residency requirements
Procedure – An individual must complete tax returns for the last 3 closed tax years, file FINCEN114 (FINBAR) information returns, if required, for the last 6 years and certify the reasons for which they did not previously complete these returns.
Benefits – By completing the Streamlined (Offshore) Filing Compliance Procedure, you bring your filing obligations up to date without failure to file penalties, failure to pay penalties, or interest charges if the is completed. You also gain peace of mind!
Questions? – Contact me to discuss further.