[anothermouse]

You're wrong, and while it might seem harsh, I'm going to have to say you just don't know what you're talking about.

My non working US wife has completely jeopardised my family's financial well being, purely through being american. She has been out of the country for 10 years, and she would be expected to pay 125% of our life savings as for over 5 years our joint bank account held the deposit for our house? She has no income, and didn't file. No FBAR -> 25% of the balance in fines per year for 5 years == 125%.

An incredible number of american's come out of the woodwork saying "there is no problem", because it wasn't hard for them. You don't prove a negative result with one data point!

[_delirium]

Yes, not filing an FBAR is a major pitfall. But I don't see how this is a response to my comment. I was simply pointing out that there's no double-taxation on income. A fine for failing to declare a foreign bank account is an entirely different question than double-taxation.