Filed an FBAR with an error? An amendment fixes the form. Whether it fixes the problem depends on what was missed.
An amended FBAR corrects a filed report: a wrong balance, a missed account, a bad account number. It is filed electronically with FinCEN by checking the amendment box and giving the prior report’s identifier. The form is simple. The judgment is not: if the omission involved unreported income, or the amendment would reveal accounts the returns never mentioned, an amendment alone can be a quiet disclosure, and the IRS has said it may examine those. Our attorneys review what was missed before anything is filed.
When an amendment is enough, and when it is not
An amendment fits when the income from the account was reported and the error is on the form itself. It is not the right tool when foreign income was left off the returns, when several years are affected, or when the facts could look willful. In those cases the streamlined procedures or the Voluntary Disclosure Practice protect you, and an amendment gives up that protection. The review takes one conversation, under privilege.
“Andrew assisted me with foreign filing requirements and I am very happy that I found him. He is a wealth of knowledge in this complex field of taxation and I found him to be also extremely responsive and accommodating. Thank you very much for your help.”
How an amended FBAR works
The amended report replaces the original in FinCEN’s system. It must include every account for the year, not only the corrected one, with maximum values in U.S. dollars, and it should be accompanied by the corrected tax return if the error affected income. There is no fee. If the original was filed late, the amendment does not cure the lateness; that is a separate question with its own procedures.
When to amend
As soon as you find the error, and before the IRS finds it. Common triggers: a year-end statement showing a higher maximum balance than reported, an account opened mid-year that was forgotten, an account you only sign on for an employer or a parent, a foreign brokerage or pension that turned out to be reportable, and account numbers or institution details entered wrong. What the FBAR covers
How to file an amended FBAR
Confirm the error and gather statements for every account for the year. Have an attorney review whether an amendment or a disclosure program applies. File the amended FinCEN Form 114 through the BSA E-Filing System, marking it as amended and entering the prior report’s BSA identifier, with a brief explanation. Amend the income tax return if the error affected reported income. Keep the confirmation and the statements.
Processing time
FinCEN acknowledges the filing within days; there is no approval process. Whether the IRS acts on an amendment depends on what it shows. An amendment that adds accounts with unreported income can prompt an examination, which is why the review comes before the filing.
Penalties for an incorrect FBAR
Non-willful penalties are up to an inflation-adjusted amount per report per year, over 16,000 dollars in 2026, and apply per FBAR rather than per account after the Supreme Court’s Bittner decision. Willful penalties reach the greater of an inflation-adjusted amount over 165,000 dollars or 50 percent of the account balance. An honest amendment of a form error rarely draws a penalty; an amendment that reveals years of unreported income can. FBAR penalties
Talk to an attorney before you amend
Bring the original FBAR, the account statements, and the returns for the year. The attorney tells you whether an amendment is the right filing or whether a program applies, and what each involves. If it is an amendment, it can usually be prepared and filed quickly. FBAR attorneys
