On July 1, 2026, the IRS removed the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures from its website without issuing a formal announcement. Previously, the IRS provided written guidance stating that it would not impose a penalty solely for the failure to timely file delinquent FBARs where taxpayers had "properly reported on [their] U.S. tax returns, and paid all tax on, the income from the foreign financial accounts reported on the delinquent FBARs, and [they had] not previously been contacted regarding an income tax examination or a request for delinquent returns for the years for which the delinquent FBARs [were] submitted."¹

What has changed?

Taxpayers no longer have published IRS guidance expressly stating that no penalty will be imposed solely because an FBAR was filed late. The removal of the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures, however, does not change the underlying FBAR rules and regulations, nor does it mean that the IRS will automatically assess penalties on every late-filed FBAR.

The IRS FBAR webpage now states:

"Filing an FBAR late or not at all is a violation and may subject you to penalties. If the IRS hasn't contacted you about a late FBAR and you're not under civil or criminal investigation by the IRS, you should file late FBARs as soon as possible to keep potential penalties to a minimum." ²

Practical considerations

Although the administrative penalty-relief language has been removed, there is no indication that the IRS intends to automatically impose penalties on taxpayers whose only compliance issue is a late-filed FBAR. We will continue to monitor IRS guidance and enforcement activity relating to delinquent FBAR filings and will update this Alert as additional information becomes available.

A delinquent FBAR filing does, however, remain a technical violation and may be subject to penalties if the IRS chooses to assert them. In appropriate circumstances, the non-willful FBAR penalty may apply. Importantly, taxpayers who do not file at all generally face greater exposure — including potential assertion of the significantly higher willful-failure-to-file penalty — than those who file late. For taxpayers who actually filed the FBAR (even if delinquent), the penalty exposure, at worst, is generally limited to the non-willful category.

Taxpayers who discover missed FBAR filings may want to consider filing the delinquent FBARs as soon as possible. Leaving the violation uncorrected could increase the risk of more significant enforcement concerns if the IRS later determines the failure to file was willful or otherwise warrants heightened scrutiny.

FBAR filing deadlines

FBARs are generally due on April 15 following the calendar year being reported. All filers receive an automatic extension to October 15 without filing an extension request.

In addition, certain individuals with signature authority but no financial interest in foreign financial accounts may qualify for extended filing relief under FinCEN Notices 2011-1 and 2011-2, as subsequently extended by later FinCEN guidance. Most recently, FinCEN extended the filing deadline for qualifying individuals to April 15, 2027, under Notice FIN-2025-NTC3. ^3,4

FinCEN and the IRS may also provide additional FBAR filing relief in connection with federally declared disasters and other specified circumstances. For example, following the January 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires, affected filers received an extended FBAR filing deadline consistent with the IRS-designated disaster area relief.⁵