Streamlined Penalty Estimator

The domestic streamlined procedure carries a one-time 5% penalty on the highest year-end aggregate of your unreported foreign assets across the covered years. This calculator runs that arithmetic so you can see the number before you sit down with someone. It is the Form 14654 math, not tax advice. The procedure is available only if your failure to report was non-willful; if the conduct was willful, these procedures do not apply and the penalty structure is entirely different.

Year-end totals, each covered year

For each year, add up the December 31 balances (in US dollars) of every foreign financial asset that should have been reported and wasn't: missed FBARs, missed Form 8938, or assets whose income went unreported. Leave a year blank or at zero if nothing was missed that year.

The covered period spans 6 years of FBARs and 3 years of returns. For a filing in 2026, those are typically 2020 through 2025.

Year 1 (earliest covered year) Dec 31 aggregate, USD

Year 2 Dec 31 aggregate, USD

Year 3 Dec 31 aggregate, USD

Year 4 Dec 31 aggregate, USD

Year 5 Dec 31 aggregate, USD

Year 6 (most recent covered year) Dec 31 aggregate, USD

My largest foreign asset is a Canadian RRSP or RRIF

Your estimate

Highest year-end aggregate$0

Which year—

Estimated 5% penalty$0

This is the penalty line only. Tax and interest on the unreported income are separate from the penalty and add to it. Preparer fees for a streamlined domestic file typically run US$2,500 to $4,500.

Domestic vs. foreign procedure: this estimate assumes the domestic path. If you lived outside the US for at least 330 full days in any one of the three covered return years, you may qualify for the foreign offshore procedure, which carries no miscellaneous offshore penalty at all.

Not in the base: an eligible individual's RRSP or RRIF (Rev. Proc. 2014-55), foreign real estate (not reportable on an FBAR or Form 8938), assets reported on timely filed Forms 3520 or 5471, and any year where nothing was missed.

What this enters and what it doesn't. Each field takes the total year-end balance of the foreign assets that should have been reported in that year and weren't. That is the aggregate the IRS asks for on Form 14654. If an asset was properly reported in a given year, leave it out of that year's total. If a year is fully compliant, the IRS says the amount for that year "will be zero". Only year-end values count: a peak balance hit mid-year doesn't enter the arithmetic unless it was still there on December 31. If you are an eligible individual under Rev. Proc. 2014-55, your RRSP and RRIF are excluded from the penalty base, so do not include them above.

How the 5% penalty is computed (the actual rules)

The rate: "The Title 26 miscellaneous offshore penalty is equal to 5 percent of the highest aggregate balance/value" (IRS, domestic procedure). It is charged once, not per year and not per account.
The base: "the highest aggregate balance/value is determined by aggregating the year-end account balances and year-end asset values of all the foreign financial assets subject to the miscellaneous offshore penalty for each of the years in the covered tax return period and the covered FBAR period and selecting the highest aggregate balance/value from among those years" (IRS, domestic procedure).
What enters: a foreign account that should have been on an FBAR and wasn't, an asset that should have been on a Form 8938 and wasn't, or an asset whose income went unreported. What stays out: assets reported on timely filed Forms 3520 or 5471, foreign real estate (not reportable on an FBAR or Form 8938), and an eligible individual's RRSP or RRIF under Rev. Proc. 2014-55 (IRS, FAQs).
Covered periods: 3 years of tax returns (the most recent 3 whose return due date has passed) and 6 years of FBARs (the most recent 6 whose FBAR due date has passed). The penalty base spans both, and the highest year can come from any of the 6.
Year-end, not peak: the form asks for "Year-End Balance/Asset Value (state in US Dollars)" and no mid-year peak (IRS, Form 14654).
No valuation discounts: "no valuation discounts may be taken on foreign financial assets subject to the 5-percent penalty" (IRS, FAQs).
What you sign: the penalty is self-computed on Form 14654 and paid with the submission. The certification is made under penalties of perjury: you state that your failure to report was due to non-willful conduct. You consent to immediate assessment, waive limitations defenses, and waive the right to a refund of the penalty. If the IRS later determines the conduct was willful, the signed certification becomes part of the record.
Full walk-through: what is the 5 percent actually 5 percent of, and what a streamlined file costs to prepare.

This tool provides general information and a rough estimate, not tax advice for your situation. The estimate is based on the figures you enter and assumes every entered balance is subject to the penalty. A real file prices each asset and each year individually.

Streamlined Penalty Estimator

Year-end totals, each covered year

Your estimate

How the 5% penalty is computed (the actual rules)

Want the base built before you sign anything?