Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures (DIIRSP)
Taxpayers who are considered U.S. persons for tax purposes may be required to report their foreign accounts, assets, investments, and income to the U.S. government on their tax returns and accompanying international reporting forms. Unfortunately, many taxpayers are unaware of these reporting requirements until they have been out of compliance for several years — and unfortunately the IRS has placed an emphasis on penalizing taxpayers who fail to comply with international reporting requirements such as filing the FBAR and Form 8938. To avoid or minimize penalties, the IRS offers various offshore amnesty programs to assist taxpayers with getting into compliance. One of the more common methods for getting us to compliance is the Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures (DIIRSP). Let’s review the basics of DIIRSP
First, DIIRSP vs DFSP
Until July 2026, the IRS offered two versions of the delinquency procedures; one version was for taxpayers who only had to report the FBAR (DFSP) and the other version is for taxpayers who have to report more than just the FBAR (DIIRSP). As of July 1st, 2026, the IRS has seemingly done away with the delinquent FBAR submission procedures (DFSP). While the procedures may still exist in the Internal Revenue Manual, the IRS deleted the pages of the IRS website that refers to the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures. The reason why this is important, is because under the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures, taxpayers were almost guaranteed a penalty waiver — whereas under the delinquent international information return submission procedures, there is a higher risk of fines and penalties.
How to Submit to DIIRSP
A summary of how to submit to DIIRSP as provided by the IRS:
What do I do if I have a delinquent international information return?
Taxpayers who have identified the need to file delinquent international information returns who are not under a civil examination or a criminal investigation by the IRS and have not already been contacted by the IRS about the delinquent information returns should file the delinquent information returns through normal filing procedures.
Penalties may be assessed in accordance with existing procedures.
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All delinquent international information returns, other than Forms 3520 and 3520-A, should be attached to an amended income tax return and filed according to the applicable instructions for the amended return.
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All delinquent Forms 3520 and 3520-A should be filed according to the applicable instructions for those forms.
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Taxpayers may attach a reasonable cause statement to each delinquent information return filed for which reasonable cause is being asserted. During the processing of the delinquent information return, penalties may be assessed without considering the attached reasonable cause statement. It may be necessary for taxpayers to respond to specific correspondence from the IRS and submit or resubmit reasonable cause information.
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Note that for Form 3520 and Form 3520-A reasonable cause statements will be considered prior to a penalty being assessed. If you are attaching a reasonable cause statement to Form 3520 and/or a Form 3520-A please write on the top of the first page of the form “Reasonable Cause Statement attached”.
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Amended returns, including amended information returns, will not be automatically subject to audit but may be selected for audit through the existing audit selection processes that are in place for any tax or information returns.
For additional information regarding applicable penalties related to international information returns, refer to penalties.
For additional information on international tax matters, see international taxpayers.
Late Filing Penalties May be Reduced or Avoided
For Taxpayers who did not timely file their FBAR and/or other international information-related reporting forms, the IRS has developed many different offshore amnesty programs to assist Taxpayers with safely getting into compliance. These programs may reduce or even eliminate international reporting penalties.
Current Year vs. Prior Year Non-Compliance
Once a taxpayer misses the tax and reporting (such as FBAR and FATCA) requirements for prior years, they will want to be careful before submitting their information to the IRS in the current year. That is because they may risk making a quiet disclosure if they just begin filing forward in the current year and/or mass filing previous year forms without doing so under one of the approved IRS offshore submission procedures. Before filing prior untimely foreign reporting forms, Taxpayers should consider speaking with a Board-Certified Tax Law Specialist who specializes exclusively in these types of offshore disclosure matters.
Avoid False Offshore Disclosure Submissions (Willful vs Non-Willful)
In recent years, the IRS has increased the level of scrutiny for certain streamlined procedure submissions. When a person is non-willful, they have an excellent chance of making a successful submission to Streamlined Procedures. If they are willful, they would submit to the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program instead. But, if a willful Taxpayer submits an intentionally false narrative under the Streamlined Procedures (and gets caught), they may become subject to significant fines and penalties.
Need Help Finding an Experienced Offshore Tax Attorney?
When it comes to hiring an experienced international tax attorney to represent you for unreported foreign and offshore account reporting, it can become overwhelming for Taxpayers trying to trek through all the false information and nonsense they will find in their online research. There are only a handful of attorneys worldwide who are Board-Certified Tax Specialists and who specialize exclusively in offshore disclosure and international tax amnesty reporting.
*This resource may help Taxpayers seeking to hire offshore tax counsel: How to Hire an Offshore Disclosure Lawyer.
Golding & Golding: About Our International Tax Law Firm
Golding & Golding specializes exclusively in international tax, specifically IRS offshore disclosure.
Contact our firm today for assistance.