Topic · Germany
Streamlined filing from Germany: catching up on US taxes
The penalty-free route back for Americans in Germany who never filed — and why an ETF-Sparplan makes the catch-up bigger than the tax bill suggests.
By Danilson Ramos · Founder, Atamatax
Published August 2026 · Updated October 2026
Part of the Germany desk — every US tax topic for Germany in one place.
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You don't need every document to take the first step.
One question to start, three more to sharpen it — answered here, with no email. Your answers carry into the eligibility screening rather than being asked again.
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Four answers give a first read on the published gates; eligibility follows from your full facts. Non-willfulness is your own certification on Form 14653 — a statement only you can make.
Germany has a large, long-settled American population — Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, and the university towns — and a steady stream of people who discover the U.S. filing obligation years after moving. Usually the prompt is a bank's FATCA request, a US-born child's passport application, or a conversation that starts "wait, you still have to file?"
The programme
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures let a qualifying U.S. person abroad file the most recent 3 years of delinquent or amended returns and the most recent 6 years of FBARs, with the offshore penalty at 0%. Both conditions must hold: non-willful conduct, and the non-residency test — no US abode and at least 330 full days outside the United States, in at least one of the last three years for which the return due date has passed.
How much U.S. tax a German case usually produces
German income tax plus Solidaritätszuschlag, and Kirchensteuer where it applies, generally exceeds U.S. tax on the same employment income. The Foreign Tax Credit on Form 1116 credits qualifying German income tax against it, category by category. For a salaried American in Germany, U.S. tax on employment income across the catch-up years is frequently zero or near it.
Investment income is where it gets uneven. Abgeltungsteuer at 25% plus Soli is credited in the passive category, but Teilfreistellung reduces the German tax on equity funds, and Vorabpauschale puts German tax in years that may carry no matching U.S. income. Under §1291, PFIC income lands in years determined by the allocation rules rather than by when German tax was paid. Credits computed year by year can therefore go unused.
What makes the German case large
- The Sparplan. A monthly ETF plan running for five years is a long list of purchase lots in a non-U.S. fund, each relevant to the §1291 allocation.
- Multiple funds. One Form 8621 per PFIC per year, across every year in the window.
- Six years of euro peaks. Each account's maximum balance, converted at each year's December 31 Treasury rate.
- Pension layers. Statutory Rente, bAV, and any Riester or Rürup contract each need classifying before the treaty is reached.
What the submission contains
- the most recent 3 years of Forms 1040 with all required schedules and information returns
- the most recent 6 years of FinCEN 114 filings, submitted electronically to FinCEN
- Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness and non-residency, signed by you
- Payment of any tax and statutory interest due
Atamatax prepares the return side — Forms 1040 year by year, the Form 1116 credit for German tax, Form 8621 for each PFIC, and FBAR values with filing instructions. You write and sign Form 14653 in your own words, assemble the mailing from the package's instructions, and file.
Timing
No published deadline exists, but the programme closes once the IRS has contacted you about the years concerned. German institutions report U.S. account holders under the FATCA intergovernmental agreement, so the information is already moving.
Check whether Streamlined fits your facts
The free eligibility tool walks the residency and non-willfulness questions and returns a cautious indication of the fit; non-willfulness is your own certification.
Authorities cited
- IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures — U.S. Taxpayers Residing Outside the United States — Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures
- FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) — Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
- IRS Form 8621 — About Form 8621 — Information Return by a Shareholder of a PFIC or QEF
- IRS Form 1116 — About Form 1116 — Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate, or Trust)
- IRC §901 — IRC §901 — Taxes of foreign countries and U.S. possessions
Primary sources (Cornell Legal Information Institute for the US Code and CFR; IRS.gov for forms, procedures, and treaty documents). This page is general information, not individualized tax or legal advice.
Atamatax provides tax preparation support and educational resources. This website does not constitute legal or tax advice.