Form 14653
The non-wilfulness certification that carries the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedure — signed under penalties of perjury.
Certification by U.S. Person Residing Outside of the United States for Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures. It is the document the procedure turns on: it certifies eligibility for the non-residency requirement and states, under penalties of perjury, that the failure to report income, pay tax and file required returns was non-wilful. A boilerplate assertion is not enough — the IRS expects the specific facts of your own situation, including why you did not know about the obligation and how you came to learn of it. A false certification is not merely a rejected submission; it is a statement under penalty of perjury and can support criminal exposure. The equivalent for those inside the US is Form 14654, under the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedure, which carries a Title 26 miscellaneous penalty rather than none.
Related
This glossary entry is general reference, not advice for your specific return. Start your filing on the residency step.