I got a CP15 FBAR penalty notice. What do I do?
A CP15 is a proposed penalty, not a final assessment. The clock on the notice is the only thing that matters in the next 24 hours.
The 30-day clock comes first
Find the date in the upper-right corner of the notice. You have approximately 30 days from that date to respond in writing before the proposed penalty becomes a hard assessment. Write down the notice number, the tax year, the proposed amount, and the response deadline somewhere visible. That deadline is the one fact that controls everything else.
What a CP15 actually is
The IRS uses Notice CP15 to propose a civil penalty across many different statutes. When the CP15 references an FBAR penalty, it is being issued under 31 U.S.C. §5321 — the penalty section of the Bank Secrecy Act, which lives in Title 31, not the Internal Revenue Code.
That distinction matters. FBAR penalties go through a different procedural path than ordinary tax penalties. The notice you have is a proposal that becomes a final assessment if you do not respond in writing within the response window stated on the notice. It is not a bill yet.
Why Title 31 changes everything
Ordinary income tax penalties are governed by Title 26. They are assessed, billed, and (if challenged) reviewed in Tax Court. FBAR penalties are different. They live in Title 31. The IRS administers them as a delegated function from FinCEN. The standard of review on appeal is different. The forum on judicial review is district court or the Court of Federal Claims, not Tax Court.
In practice, this means a general CPA may not be the right help. International tax practitioners and tax controversy attorneys who specifically handle FBAR cases know the procedural mechanics. A response drafted with the wrong framing wastes the 30-day window.
The proposed amount — willful vs non-willful
Read the notice carefully. It will state whether the penalty is being proposed as willful or non-willful. The number on the notice is anchored to that label.
Approximately $10,000 to $16,500 per violation, inflation-indexed annually. Available reasonable cause defense.
Up to $100,000 or 50% of the account balance per violation, whichever is greater (also inflation-indexed). Much harder to defend.
See our deeper page on how the non-willful FBAR penalty amount is calculated for the math and how Bittner v. United States (2023) changed per-account vs per-form counting.
What a reasonable cause response looks like
A non-willful FBAR penalty proposed in a CP15 is usually contested with a written reasonable cause statement. The statement explains, in specific terms, why the failure to file was not the result of willful neglect.
The arguments that work tend to share a structure: (1) when you learned about the FBAR requirement, (2) what you did the moment you learned, (3) whether the underlying foreign accounts generated US-taxable income that was reported correctly, and (4) your compliance history otherwise. Specificity wins. “I learned about FBAR on March 14, 2024 from a podcast, immediately reviewed my prior six years, and filed delinquent FBARs on April 2, 2024” reads very differently from “I didn't know.”
For a full walkthrough of how the statement is structured, see how to write an FBAR reasonable cause statement.
Two paths people typically take
Engage an international tax practitioner. They draft a written reasonable cause response, file it before the deadline on the notice, and the IRS reviews. Many non-willful FBAR cases are abated or reduced at this stage. Cost: typically $1,500 to $5,000 in fees for the response itself.
Pay the proposed penalty, then sue for refund in district court. This preserves your rights but is generally harder, slower, and more expensive than fighting the proposal up front. Most practitioners only recommend this when the response window has already passed.
The wrong move is to ignore the notice, or to call the agent on the phone and try to explain things off-the-cuff. Statements on an unrecorded call still go in the file.
What FBAR File can and cannot help with
FBAR File is a filing tool for FinCEN Form 114. It files the current-year FBAR correctly so the next CP15 never gets issued. It is not a law firm, not a CPA, and does not represent filers before the IRS. We do not draft reasonable cause statements, file appeals, or respond to penalty notices.
For the CP15 itself, get a practitioner who handles FBAR cases. Saying anything else would be a lie.
Frequently asked questions
CP15 is a Civil Penalty Notice the IRS uses to propose a wide range of penalties, including FBAR penalties assessed under Title 31. It is not a final assessment — it is a proposal that becomes final if you do not respond within the window stated on the notice (typically 30 days).
Most CP15 notices give you 30 days from the date on the notice to respond. The deadline is on the notice itself. Missing the window is what turns a proposed penalty into a hard assessment.
No. A tax bill (like a CP14) tells you what you owe. A CP15 tells you what the IRS proposes to charge you. You have appeal rights before it becomes a bill.
Yes. Non-willful FBAR penalties are routinely challenged on reasonable cause. The mechanics differ from a regular tax penalty because FBAR penalties are assessed under Title 31 (Bank Secrecy Act), not Title 26 (Internal Revenue Code). A practitioner who handles international tax should draft your response.
Non-willful penalties (the common case) apply when the taxpayer did not know about the FBAR requirement or made an honest mistake. The cap is around $10,000 to $16,500 per violation, inflation-indexed. Willful penalties apply when the taxpayer knew about the requirement and chose not to file — up to $100,000 or 50% of the account balance per violation, whichever is greater.
Not before you have written representation. Statements made on a casual phone call become part of the case file. Get a practitioner to draft a written response within the deadline instead.
No. FBAR File is a filing tool for the current-year FinCEN Form 114, not a tax representation service. We do not represent filers before the IRS or respond to penalty notices. For the notice itself, you need an international tax practitioner.
Find an international tax practitioner
The notice itself needs a human. Three ways to find one:
- • The AICPA “Find a CPA” directory, filtered by international tax
- • The American Bar Association Tax Section practitioner directory
- • IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) for income-eligible filers
Avoid responding to the notice yourself unless you have done this before. The response window matters more than the response quality — but only barely.
For next year's FBAR
The fastest way to stay out of a future notice is to file the current-year FBAR on time. About 12 minutes. $29. FinCEN-ready in three steps.
FBAR File does not respond to the notice you already have. It files the current-year FBAR correctly.