How many years does streamlined cover?

The foreign offshore procedure involves a set number of years of returns plus several years of FBARs. The exact specifics depend on the program requirements and your facts.

Will I owe penalties?

For eligible non-willful taxpayers, the foreign offshore procedure is designed to avoid certain penalties. Eligibility and outcome depend on your situation.

Do I definitely need streamlined?

Not necessarily — sometimes simply back-filing is enough. It depends on whether you had a filing requirement, unreported income, and foreign accounts. The Tax Risk Check is a good starting point.

Topic · Switzerland

Streamlined Filing for Americans in Switzerland

Behind on U.S. taxes from Switzerland? An overview of the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures and who they may help.

By Danilson Ramos · Founder, Atamatax

Published June 2026 · Updated November 2026

Reviewed and approved by our EA/CPA team on November 10, 2026.

Part of the Switzerland desk — every US tax topic for Switzerland in one place.

Start here

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.

Free, no account, nothing you answer leaves this page. Open the full eligibility checker

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.

Many Americans only discover their U.S. filing obligations years after moving to Switzerland. The IRS provides catch-up pathways — most relevant for expats is the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures — designed for taxpayers whose failure to file was non-willful.

What the streamlined path involves

Filing a set number of prior-year tax returns (including any PFIC/Form 8621).
Filing several years of FBARs.
A signed non-willful certification.

"Non-willful" is a legal judgment, and the certification is signed under penalty of perjury. If your facts are near the line, get a professional opinion before filing.

Is it right for you?

The streamlined path is one of several options, and the right one depends on what you missed and why. Atamatax provides preparation support and can help you understand what may apply — this is not legal advice.

The Swiss paperwork a submission is built from

Lohnausweis / certificat de salaire — the annual salary certificate.
Source-tax statements — if you are taxed at source on a B permit, the Quellensteuer withheld; above CHF 120,000 of salary an ordinary assessment follows. See Quellensteuer and US tax.
Steuerveranlagung / avis de taxation — the cantonal assessment that fixes federal, cantonal and communal income tax for the year.
Steuerauszug from each bank — year-end values and income per account, useful for Form 8938 and for the PFIC inventory.

Which Swiss taxes count on the US return

Swiss income taxes — federal, cantonal and communal — are creditable foreign income taxes. The cantonal wealth tax is not an income tax and cannot be credited. The 35% withholding tax on Swiss dividends and fund distributions is creditable only for the part you cannot get back.

The Swiss tax year is the calendar year, so each Swiss assessment matches one US return. A Swiss Streamlined case usually also carries pillar 3a and vested-benefits accounts on the FBARs and Swiss or Irish funds on Forms 8621 — check them with the Swiss PFIC checker. For the programme's current status, see is Streamlined ending?.

Done-with-you case preparationStreamlined Investor · $2,200

Rather have a human run the whole catch-up with you?

The Streamlined tiers are quoted in writing once the scope is confirmed, and you accept the quote before any payment. A call is free, optional and available at any point. Where the scope needs a conversation — an open willfulness question, an IRS examination, or facts the intake leaves open — it is offered before any price; otherwise the written quote comes straight from the intake. The exact years, the return/FBAR/Form 14653 deliverables, the price and who does what are all on the quote before you accept it. Booking does not purchase or guarantee a completed Streamlined package.

Book a free 15-min eligibility call What’s included

The call is free and is only a fit and scope check. Non-willfulness is your certification and may require advice from a qualified professional.

Your country

The gates are the same everywhere. From here:

How does the Streamlined route work?
Eligibility, scope, the three tiers and where to start.
Am I eligible for the foreign procedure?
The two published gates — non-residency and non-willfulness — decide it, and neither is assumed.
What will I certify on Form 14653?
Non-willfulness, in your own words, under penalties of perjury.
Is the procedure ending?
What the IRS has actually published, and when we last checked.
Do foreign ETFs or funds change the case?
A non-US fund adds a Form 8621 to every open year — the count decides the tier.
Check my catch-up path
Eight questions on the published gates, free, no account.

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

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.

Frequently asked questions

How many years does streamlined cover?#: The foreign offshore procedure involves a set number of years of returns plus several years of FBARs. The exact specifics depend on the program requirements and your facts.
Will I owe penalties?#: For eligible non-willful taxpayers, the foreign offshore procedure is designed to avoid certain penalties. Eligibility and outcome depend on your situation.
Do I definitely need streamlined?#: Not necessarily — sometimes simply back-filing is enough. It depends on whether you had a filing requirement, unreported income, and foreign accounts. The Tax Risk Check is a good starting point.

Related guides

Preparation · price before you start

If you want the missing years prepared

Which route fits depends on a few facts, not on the balances. These are the common situations and the route the same rules give each one. Nothing is charged until you generate a package or accept a written quote.

Several years unfiled; wages, pensions and bank accounts, no non-US funds
Streamlined Essential · $1,590 · Done-with-you case preparation, scoped first
Wages, pensions or bank accounts with no non-US funds is the standard catch-up scope: three returns, six FBARs, and the certification package.
What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
A Streamlined Foreign Offshore preparation package: up to three delinquent returns and six FBAR years as worksheets mapped to each year's official forms (official pre-filled PDFs only for tax year 2025), a document completeness check, the Form 14653 organiser, and filing instructions — one scoped quote, one payment.
A CPA or Enrolled Agent from the Atamatax team, assigned according to your case (its forms, countries and complexity), prepares the three returns, the six FBAR years and the Form 14653 organiser from your documents, against the written scope, with the engine computing the figures, and signs as paid preparer. They are named on your case once they accept. If no professional has been assigned 7 days after payment, you choose between waiting and a full refund. You write your own statement of facts.
The CPA or Enrolled Agent assigned to your case reviews and answers for the work they sign; a person at Atamatax checks the file is complete before it reaches you.
You mail the returns to the IRS as the Streamlined instructions direct, and file the FBARs on FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System. Atamatax transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN.
Get a scoped quote
The same, with non-US funds or a personal foreign pension
Streamlined Investor · $2,200 · Done-with-you case preparation, scoped first
The catch-up years include non-US funds or a personal foreign plan, so each back year needs PFIC work as well as the return and the FBAR.
What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
A CPA or Enrolled Agent from the Atamatax team, assigned according to your case (its forms, countries and complexity), prepares the three returns, the six FBAR years and the Form 14653 organiser from your documents, against the written scope, with the engine computing the figures, and signs as paid preparer. They are named on your case once they accept. If no professional has been assigned 7 days after payment, you choose between waiting and a full refund. You write your own statement of facts.
The CPA or Enrolled Agent assigned to your case reviews and answers for the work they sign; a person at Atamatax checks the file is complete before it reaches you.
You mail the returns to the IRS as the Streamlined instructions direct, and file the FBARs on FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System. Atamatax transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN.
Get a scoped quote
The same, with a foreign company, a trust, or more than ten funds
Streamlined Complex · From $2,990 · Done-with-you case preparation, scoped first
Several unfiled years plus a foreign company, a trust or a large fund portfolio is the hand-scoped tier: the scope is set before any price is quoted, and a company or trust return is prepared by a specialist alongside the personal returns.
What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
A CPA or Enrolled Agent from the Atamatax team, assigned according to your case (its forms, countries and complexity), prepares the three returns, the six FBAR years and the Form 14653 organiser from your documents, against the written scope, with the engine computing the figures, and signs as paid preparer. They are named on your case once they accept. If no professional has been assigned 7 days after payment, you choose between waiting and a full refund. You write your own statement of facts.
The CPA or Enrolled Agent assigned to your case reviews and answers for the work they sign; a person at Atamatax checks the file is complete before it reaches you.
You mail the returns to the IRS as the Streamlined instructions direct, and file the FBARs on FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System. Atamatax transmits nothing to the IRS or FinCEN.
Get a scoped quote
An IRS examination is open, or willfulness is an open question
Confirm the scope before choosing a package · Free to ask
The IRS has already been in contact. The published catch-up routes close once an examination is open, so the next step is a conversation about representation, not a filing package.
What arrives, who prepares and checks it, and who files
Free to ask. A person reads the facts and says whether Atamatax can take the case, and which route it would be.
A person at Atamatax reads the facts before any route is offered.
See whether Atamatax can take the case

When a professional's judgment is needed. An open IRS examination, a question about whether the missed years were willful, or an unsettled US status goes to a person before anything is quoted — those decide whether a catch-up procedure is available at all, and nothing should be certified under penalty of perjury until they are answered. Most IRS letters do not close a route; an examination does.

In every route the signatures and the filing stay with you or the accountant you choose; nothing is filed on your behalf. Written questions to hello@atamatax.com reach a person — we aim to reply within one business day. Who does what in each route.

Free preliminary result · a few questions

Build your catch-up filing map

Answer a few questions about the years you missed and what you hold abroad. See which filings may apply, whether the Streamlined route looks consistent with your facts, and what to gather first.

Build my catch-up filing mapNo signup. Answers stay yours.

Your next step · free

Could the Streamlined route fit your facts?

Eight questions on the published gates — the non-residency test, non-willfulness, any examination, which years are open — and a preliminary read on which catch-up path they point at. Free, no account.

Check my catch-up path View checklist