Expatriatesai
US tax catch-up for Americans abroad

Behind on your US taxes? Get caught up, penalty-free.

The IRS Streamlined program wipes the penalties for honest mistakes. When our filing package opens, you'll assemble it yourself for a flat fee. Most people find they owe $0.

2 minutes · no account · your numbers never leave a deterministic engine.

Your free IRS check

No willful-conduct flags in your answers — you can self-prepare

$0
estimated US tax
FEIE
the cheaper path for you
Form 1040
Form 2555
FBAR

Penalty-free under Streamlined. You review and sign — the software never certifies your case for you.

~9 million

Americans abroad who must file a US return — for life, wherever they live.

62%

owe $0 once the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and foreign tax credits apply.

Penalty-free

if your failure to file was an honest mistake — that's exactly who Streamlined is for.

If any of this sounds like you, you're in the right place.

You don't need to have done anything wrong. Most people just never knew that living abroad didn't switch off their US filing obligation — until something forced the question.

Your foreign bank sent a letter

A FATCA notice or a W-9 request landed, and now the clock feels like it's ticking.

A passport or mortgage got flagged

You went to renew or apply, and your US tax status came back to bite.

You just found out

A friend, an accountant, or a forum told you Americans abroad file every year — and you're years behind.

How it works

Three steps, one sitting.

The free check tells you where you stand in two minutes. If Streamlined fits, we'll assemble the whole package once filing opens. You'll print, sign, and mail it — the way the IRS asks for it.

1

Check where you stand — free

Seven yes-or-no questions and your largest account balance check whether the Streamlined program fits, and a deterministic engine estimates what you'd actually owe (usually nothing).

2

We'll build your package

Opening soon: your three most recent returns, six years of FBARs, and a Form 14653 draft in your own words — every number computed, never guessed.

3

Print, sign, mail

You'll review everything, sign your own certification, and mail it to the IRS. Penalty-free, and you keep full control the whole way.

What the filing package will include

A complete, ready-to-mail Streamlined Foreign Offshore submission you'll assemble yourself with software, for a flat fee. It opens soon.

  • Three years of returns — Form 1040 with Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) or Form 1116 (foreign tax credit), whichever legally saves you more.
  • Six years of FBARs — the FinCEN 114 reports, with step-by-step instructions to file them free.
  • Your Form 14653 — the non-willfulness statement, drafted from your own words for you to review, edit, and sign.
  • Mailing instructions — exactly where each piece goes, so nothing gets lost between the returns and the separate FBAR path.

Why trust software with this

The math is deterministic — never AI guesswork

Every figure is computed by a tested tax engine, not a language model, and no AI will ever invent a number on your return.

We stop you before a risky filing

If your answers suggest your case wasn't a simple oversight, we say so and point you to a tax attorney. The software never certifies "non-willful" for you — that call, and its signature, stay yours.

Your tax data is never sold

We never sell or share the figures you enter. Like every page on this site, the tax check loads Google Analytics, GrainQL, Vercel Web Analytics and our own visit counter.

Pricing

One flat fee. A fraction of a CPA.

Expat CPAs charge $1,450–1,890 to assemble a Streamlined package. Because you'll self-prepare with software instead of paying for someone's billable hours, ours will be a flat fee that's a fraction of that — and the free check costs nothing.

Free IRS check

$0

See whether you likely meet the requirements and your estimated tax. No account, no card.

Start your check →

Complete filing package

Flat fee — at launch

Your full 3-year + 6-FBAR + Form 14653 package, generated and ready to mail. Opening soon — add your email and you'll be first in, with the exact price and a founding-user rate.

Just launch news. No spam. By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy.

Prefer a professional?

Or have an expat-tax pro do it for you.

Don't want to self-prepare? These are established US-expat tax services — from low-cost DIY software to a dedicated CPA. We're not affiliated with the IRS and this isn't tax advice; compare them and verify current pricing on their own sites.

MyExpatTaxes

DIY filers who want the lowest cost

DIY software
Cost: from ~$115 (Base plan ~$175)

Guided expat-tax software — you answer questions and it builds the Federal return, FBAR and the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or foreign tax credit yourself, including a Streamlined catch-up.

It is software, so you are still the preparer and you sign it; a genuinely complex or willful case belongs with a professional instead.

Greenback Expat Tax Services

Hands-off filing with transparent flat pricing

CPA-prepared
Cost: ~$565–700 per federal return; FBAR ~$125/account

A dedicated CPA prepares and reviews your return for you, with flat per-form pricing published up front, so there are no billable-hour surprises.

Full-service costs several times a DIY plan, and the per-account FBAR fee adds up if you hold many foreign accounts.

Bright!Tax

Complex situations that want a personal CPA

CPA-prepared
Cost: from ~$800 (plus fees for specialised forms)

A premium expat-CPA firm with a dedicated accountant who handles the complicated international forms most software cannot — foreign business, trusts, PFICs and the like.

The most expensive of the three, and overkill for a straightforward salary-only return the cheaper options handle fine.

Some links here are partner links: if you open an account or buy a policy through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes which providers we show or how we rank them, and the official source sits next to each.

The questions everyone asks at 2am

Do I really have to file if I already pay tax where I live?
Yes — the US taxes its citizens on worldwide income no matter where they live, so a return is almost always required. But owing is a different thing: the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and foreign tax credits mean most Americans abroad owe $0. Filing is the obligation; the free check shows you the number.
I'm several years behind. Am I in trouble?
This is the exact situation the IRS Streamlined program was built for. If your failure to file was an honest mistake — not a deliberate choice to hide money — it lets you catch up without the usual penalties. Coming forward through Streamlined is the opposite of hiding.
Will filing now 'flag' me to the IRS?
Streamlined is the IRS's own designed path for people to come forward voluntarily. Using it as intended is what keeps you in good standing. What creates real risk is a "quiet" amended filing or continued non-filing — not the official catch-up program.
What if my situation is complicated, or I'm not sure it was innocent?
The free check asks a few careful questions up front. If anything suggests your case needs a professional — significant balances, prior IRS contact, or a willfulness question — we stop and point you to a tax attorney rather than let software make a call that carries real penalty and perjury risk.
Is this a CPA or a law firm?
No. expatriates.ai is self-preparation software — like tax software, but built for the expat catch-up. With the filing package, you'll be the preparer: you review and sign. That's what will make it a fraction of the price, and it's why we route the genuinely complex or willful cases to a licensed attorney instead.

See where you stand in two minutes.

Free, no account, and most people are relieved by what they find. If Streamlined fits, you'll know — and so will the exact next step.