Filing year 2027 · tax year 2026
Your 2027 US expat filing guide.
The return you normally file in 2027 reports income and events from January 1 through December 31, 2026. Start by checking what may apply, then choose annual preparation, investment work or a catch-up engagement.
By Danilson Ramos · Founder, Atamatax
Published and sources checked . This guide does not carry a CPA/EA review stamp.
Check my 2026 situation freeFree preliminary result · No card required · No tax answers sent to analytics
Choose the work you need.
Annual and investment checks below use tax year 2026. Catch-up filing remains available year-round and uses the years actually due for your situation; it is scoped separately.
I file every year and want this one done right
Map the year first: which forms, in what order, and what to gather — then choose how to get it filed.
Map my US tax situation →I own foreign investments or funds
Funds, ETFs or a brokerage account outside the US. See how your holdings fit alongside your accounts and filing history.
Check what may apply →I haven't filed US taxes in years
Or you are a year or two behind. Work out which years need attention and which catch-up route your facts point at.
Check my catch-up options →Tax year 2026 · Preview
What is available for this tax year?
Supported 2026 calculations and worksheets are available. Final official 2026 IRS PDFs are not integrated, so the self-service filing tiers are unavailable for this year; the worksheet-only CPA Export is a separate deliverable. You or your chosen professional complete, sign and file. Atamatax does not electronically file with the IRS or FinCEN.
| Tax year | Calculations | Worksheets | Official PDFs | Professional validation | E-file |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Supported scope | Yes | No | Not recorded | No |
- Form 1040 · worksheet
- Supported income, deduction and tax worksheets; remaining lines, schedules and individual facts need completion and review.
- Form 8621 · worksheet
- Supported §1291, QEF and mark-to-market worksheets. Election eligibility, annual information and historical data must be established; unsupported facts are routed. Interest through the 2027 return due date needs rates not yet loaded; the affected calculation is flagged for review.
- Form 8938 · worksheet
- Threshold screening; account and asset detail still needs completion from statements.
- Form 1116 · worksheet
- Supported passive-category credit and limitation worksheet; additional categories, carryovers and country detail need review.
- Form 2555 · worksheet
- FEIE worksheet subject to eligibility, qualifying days and stacking; housing, elections and eligibility need individual review.
- FBAR / FinCEN 114 · separate filing
- Account threshold and preparation support. You file separately with FinCEN; no transmission or acceptance is included.
Preview means the stated supported outputs can be explored; it does not promise a final filing release. Validated requires current professional validation for the stated scope. Production-ready additionally requires the matching final documents, currency coverage and a recorded regression/release approval. Review scope and limitations.
Tax year, filing year and filing dates.
“2027 filing season” means preparing the 2026 tax year; it does not mean using 2027 tax brackets. Earlier returns and FBARs keep their own years, rules, documents and exchange rates.
US citizens and resident aliens abroad generally report worldwide income. Qualifying taxpayers abroad can receive an automatic two-month filing extension; interest on unpaid tax generally runs from the regular due date. Payment dates, filing extensions, FBAR dates and individual relief are separate checks. IRS guidance for taxpayers abroad.
Use the existing expat deadline guide and deadline checker for the selected year and facts. No 2027 IRS e-file opening date is promised here.
The 2026 FEIE maximum is $132,900, if you qualify.
The foreign earned income exclusion depends on your tax home and the applicable residence or physical-presence test, and may be prorated. Investment income is not foreign earned income. Compare the foreign tax credit and FEIE in your own circumstances. IRS FEIE guidance; 2026 inflation adjustments.
Through the year, around the 2026 return.
The same work comes up in a predictable order. Dates are the ordinary federal schedule, moved off weekends and District of Columbia holidays; your own dates depend on where you lived, what you requested and any relief. Check the dates that apply to you.
After the 2025 October date
October 16 – October 31, 2026
2025 returns and FBARs not filed by October 15, 2026 are late unless a later date applies — a granted December extension, an approved Form 2350, or disaster or combat-zone relief. One late year and several unfiled years are handled differently.
Year end
November 1 – December 31, 2026
The 2026 tax year closes on December 31, 2026. Earlier unfiled years, PFIC holdings, a foreign company and a planned renunciation can be scoped before the filing season.
Filing season
January 1 – April 15, 2027
2026 returns. April 15, 2027 is the regular due date, and interest on unpaid tax runs from it even where filing is extended.
Abroad extension
April 16 – June 15, 2027
June 15, 2027 is the filing date for those whose tax home and abode were outside the US on April 15. Form 4868 filed by then extends filing — not payment — to October 15, 2027.
Extended filers
June 16 – October 15, 2027
October 15, 2027 for returns extended in time with Form 4868, and for every 2026 FBAR (automatically). A December 15, 2027 date needs a written request sent by October 15 and is granted at the IRS's discretion.
Foreign investments: establish the facts before choosing an election.
Use ticker or ISIN matches as screening evidence. Fund status, election eligibility, annual information statements, holding history and any reporting exception still need to be established. A calculator result does not make an election or complete a return.
Choose a paid deliverable after the free check.
- Express Plan — price shown before purchase
- An automated written action plan from your Tax Map answers. No return, form preparation or human review is included. The displayed server-resolved offer governs the price and any preparation credit.
- Filing-obligations diagnostic — $100
- A separate written assessment after its free scope pre-check. It addresses filing obligations; it does not prepare or file your return. The offer states how review holds, delivery and refunds work.
- CPA Export — $199
- Supported calculations, worksheets and assumptions to hand to your chosen professional. No filled official IRS PDFs, professional engagement or filing is included.
- Annual self-service packages
- Simple, PFIC Portfolio and Complex are separate one-year draft packages. Official PDFs are year- and form-dependent; 2026 currently offers the worksheet-only CPA Export instead. You review, complete, sign and file.
- Annual Concierge and scoped catch-up preparation
- Document-led work with operational checks and an agreed scope. A CPA/EA review is included only when the written engagement actually names that professional and scope. Availability, tax years and filing responsibility must be confirmed before payment.
Read the exact offer terms and exclusions and refund rules before choosing.
Year-round: problems that do not wait for a filing season.
Each of these has its own rules and its own free first check, whatever the month.
- Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures →
Who may use the procedures, which three returns and six FBARs they cover, and why non-willfulness is your own certification.
Check Streamlined eligibility - Late FBARs →
Filing FBARs late now that the IRS no longer publishes the delinquent FBAR procedure, and when late FBARs belong in a wider catch-up.
Map my catch-up - PFICs and Form 8621 →
Which foreign funds are PFICs, what the default §1291 regime costs, and when a QEF or mark-to-market election is available.
Screen my portfolio - FATCA and Form 8938 →
The abroad thresholds, which assets count, and how Form 8938 differs from the FBAR it is often confused with.
Check FBAR and Form 8938 - Foreign companies and complex filings →
Form 5471 for a foreign corporation you own or control, with the partnership and disregarded-entity forms that sit beside it.
Assess my foreign business - Accidental Americans →
US citizenship by birth with no US life, what that means for filing, and the routes back into compliance.
Map my catch-up - Renunciation and the exit tax →
The five years of compliance Form 8854 certifies, the covered-expatriate tests, and the order in which to do things.
Check my expatriation readiness - Gifts, inheritances and foreign trusts →
Form 3520 for a large gift or bequest from a non-US person or a foreign trust, and when nothing is due beyond the form.
Check a gift or inheritance
Catching up and country-specific questions.
Missing prior returns is a different engagement from filing one annual return. Use the free Streamlined eligibility screen and existing Streamlined guide. The applicable years, non-willfulness certification and unresolved facts are checked before engagement; no penalty outcome is guaranteed.
Country guides explain local account and pension questions. Treaty guidance is fact-dependent; a treaty does not create a blanket exemption from US reporting. Business, trust, expatriation and other unsupported matters go to individual scoping.
Primary sources and preparation status.
- IRS: US citizens and resident aliens abroad
- IRS: figuring the foreign earned income exclusion
- IRS: Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)
- IRS: draft tax forms — do not file drafts
A published IRS draft is not a final filing form. Release status above follows the product’s year-specific integration and review records, independently of when the IRS publishes a document. This guide provides general information; individual tax or legal conclusions require the relevant professional.