To amend an FBAR, log back into the BSA E-Filing System, start a new FinCEN Form 114 for the year you need to fix, check the “Amended” box near the top of the form, and enter the BSA Identification Number from your original filing. Fill in the corrected information for every account (not just the ones that changed), add a short explanation on the cover page, sign electronically, and submit. The system issues a new confirmation and a new BSA ID for the amended report, and that amended filing becomes the authoritative record for the year.
Filing the Amendment Step by Step
You use the same BSA E-Filing System you used the first time. There is no separate amendment form and no paper alternative for most filers. Open a fresh FinCEN Form 114 for the calendar year that needs correcting. Near the top of the form, select “Amended” as the filing type. The system will prompt you for the BSA Identification Number assigned to your original submission; that number links the correction to the right record.1Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FBAR Line Item Filing Instructions
You cannot download your prior submission, edit it, and resubmit. The system requires a new form entered from scratch.2Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Filing the FBAR Using the Online Form Before you begin, pull together every bank and financial statement for the reporting year so you can verify each account name, number, institution address, account type, and maximum value. Filing multiple amendments for the same year invites unnecessary attention, so get the corrected data right the first time.
Enter every account you had reporting responsibility for that year, not only the ones with errors. The amended filing replaces the original entirely as the record for that year, so incomplete data on the amended form creates new problems even as it fixes the old ones.
On the cover page, include a brief, factual explanation of why you are amending. Something like “Added one omitted foreign bank account” or “Corrected maximum account value due to currency conversion error” works well. Keep it short and neutral. Once the form is complete, sign electronically and submit. Save the new confirmation number and BSA ID alongside the original BSA ID in your records.
If You Lost Your Original BSA ID
The BSA ID appears on the confirmation email FinCEN sent when you filed the original report. If you cannot locate that email, contact FinCEN’s Regulatory Helpline at 800-949-2732 (or 703-905-3975 from outside the United States).3Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN FBAR Help Without the BSA ID, the system cannot link your amendment to the original filing.
Errors That Warrant an Amended FBAR
The most common reason people amend is a missing account. You reported some of your foreign accounts but forgot one, perhaps a dormant savings account or an investment account you rarely check. Signature-authority accounts held for an employer are easy to overlook and also count.4Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
Misstating the maximum account value is another frequent trigger. The FBAR asks for the highest balance reached during the calendar year, not the year-end balance, and for accounts held in a foreign currency you convert that peak balance into U.S. dollars using the Treasury Department’s exchange rate for the last day of the calendar year.5Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Reporting Maximum Account Value Using the wrong date’s rate, or using an average rate, produces a reported value that needs to be corrected.
Other issues worth amending include reporting the wrong account type, listing a joint account as individually owned, entering an incorrect account number, or misspelling the name of the foreign financial institution.
When You Can File the Amendment
There is no separate deadline for amendments. An amendment to a timely-filed FBAR (one submitted by the original April 15 due date or by the automatic October 15 extension) can be filed at any time through the BSA E-Filing System.4Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) That said, the sooner you correct the record, the less likely the error draws scrutiny, and the more comfortably you can point to the correction as a self-initiated fix rather than a response to outside pressure.
When an Amendment Is Not the Right Fix
The amendment process assumes you filed the original FBAR on time and now want to correct data on it. If your situation is different, the standard amendment is not the right tool and can even make things worse.
If you never filed an FBAR for a past year but did properly report and pay tax on all the income from those foreign accounts, use the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures. You file the missing FBAR through the BSA E-Filing System, select a reason for filing late on the cover page, and include a statement explaining why the report is late. If you are not already under IRS civil examination or criminal investigation, and the IRS has not already contacted you about the missing FBAR, no penalty will be imposed for the late filing.6Internal Revenue Service. Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures
If you also failed to report foreign income on your tax return, the delinquent procedures do not cover you. The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures address both problems together and are available when the non-compliance was non-willful, meaning it resulted from negligence, misunderstanding, or an honest mistake. The streamlined route requires three years of amended or delinquent income tax returns, six years of delinquent FBARs, and a certification of non-willful conduct on Form 14653 (U.S. residents) or Form 14654 (residents abroad).7Internal Revenue Service. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures
If the failure to file was deliberate, neither of those programs applies. The IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice exists for taxpayers with willful non-compliance who want to come forward before the IRS finds them. The process begins with a pre-clearance request on Part I of Form 14457, and if cleared, you have 45 days to submit Part II. The disclosure must be timely, meaning the IRS has not already opened a civil examination, received third-party information about your accounts, or begun a criminal investigation.8Internal Revenue Service. IRS Criminal Investigation Voluntary Disclosure Practice
Why a Quiet Fix Is Risky
Some taxpayers try to resolve a past non-filing by submitting late FBARs (or by burying corrections inside a new amendment) without entering any formal program. The IRS calls these “quiet disclosures,” and they carry real risk. A quiet filing does not create any penalty protection, and the IRS has warned that these submissions can be examined and may lead to criminal prosecution in serious cases.7Internal Revenue Service. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures The formal programs exist specifically to give a structured resolution with known consequences. If your correction fits inside a single filed year and involves only data errors, a straightforward amendment is appropriate. If it does not, use the program that matches your facts.
Records to Keep After Amending
You must keep FBAR-related records for five years from the due date of the report. Records for a 2025 FBAR, due April 15, 2026, must therefore be retained until at least April 15, 2031. The required records include the account name and number, the name and address of the foreign institution, the account type, and the maximum value during the reporting period.9Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Record Keeping
After filing an amended FBAR, save the confirmation receipts for both the original and the amended submission, along with the bank statements, account summaries, and any currency conversion calculations you used to determine the corrected maximum balances. Because the IRS has six years from the FBAR’s due date to assess civil penalties for a filing violation,10Internal Revenue Service. IRM 8.11.6 FBAR Penalties holding your records for the full six years rather than the minimum five is the more cautious approach.