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PFIC calculator (Form 8621)
Held about 6 tax years. §1291 spreads the amount evenly across them — — per year.
Estimated §1291 cost — the default PFIC regime
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Directional estimate, not tax advice, and not a filing service — Atamatax is software, not a CPA firm. The real §1291 figure depends on the exact purchase and disposition dates, each quarter's §6621 rate, your prior-year distributions, and whether any year is a pre-PFIC year. Mark-to-market (publicly-traded PFICs only) is a third regime not modelled here. Verify every number before you file Form 8621.
Why this form traps US expats
The one form cheap tax software won't touch.
Excluded everywhere cheap
Mainstream low-cost preparation tools quietly drop Form 8621 — the §1291 math is fiddly and carries real liability, so they leave it out rather than get it wrong.
$150–200 a form at a firm
The CPAs and enrolled agents who will do it routinely bill $150–200 per Form 8621, on top of the return — for a calculation that is mechanical once you have the numbers.
Penalties for getting it wrong
Miss a PFIC and the back-tax compounds with interest for every year held; expats regularly report five-figure bills once the §1291 interest is added up.
The gap
Millions of Americans abroad hold a fund that needs this form — and most don't know it.
An estimated 9 million US citizens live abroad, and a large share own ordinary local mutual funds or ETFs that the IRS treats as PFICs. Only a fraction file the foreign-asset forms they owe — not out of evasion, but because no affordable tool walks them through the §1291 computation. That is the gap this calculator closes. (Population figures are widely-cited estimates, included for context, not as filing guidance.)
How §1291 actually works
Four steps from a gain to a filed form.
- 1
Enter the amount
Put in the gain you realised on selling the foreign fund, or the excess distribution you received during the year.
- 2
Set the holding period
Enter the year you acquired the fund and the tax year of the sale or distribution. §1291 spreads the amount evenly across those years.
- 3
Read the year-by-year worksheet
The tool taxes each prior-year slice at that year's highest ordinary rate and adds a compounded §6621 interest charge, then totals the additional tax and interest.
- 4
Transcribe onto Form 8621 and file
Carry the per-year figures onto Form 8621 Part V, verify each rate against the IRS tables, and file the form with your return yourself.
A worksheet you file — not advice we give
You stay in control of the form. We just do the arithmetic.
Tax-return preparation is regulated. So this is deliberately a calculator and worksheet you complete and file yourself — not a filing service or individualised tax advice. When a position is genuinely uncertain, it points you to a credentialed professional rather than guessing. If you'd rather hand the whole return over, you can start a free draft and we'll assemble the IRS-ready forms for you to file.
FAQ
PFIC & Form 8621 questions
- What is Form 8621 and who has to file it?
- Form 8621 is the IRS form a US person files for each Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) they hold — typically a non-US mutual fund, ETF, or money-market fund (Irish UCITS, Luxembourg SICAV, and similar). You generally file one Form 8621 per fund per year if you received a distribution, sold the fund, or are making a QEF or mark-to-market election.
- What is the §1291 'excess distribution' regime?
- It is the default, most punitive way PFIC income is taxed if you make no election. The gain or excess distribution is spread evenly across your whole holding period; the portion allocated to prior years is taxed at the highest ordinary rate in effect for each of those years (not your bracket) and then charged compounded interest. This calculator builds that year-by-year allocation for you.
- Why won't cheap tax software let me file Form 8621?
- Most low-cost preparation tools exclude Form 8621 entirely because the §1291 computation is fiddly and high-liability. CPAs and EAs who do handle it commonly charge $150–200 per form, on top of the return. This calculator gives you the underlying numbers so the form is far less intimidating to complete yourself.
- Does Atamatax file Form 8621 for me?
- No. Atamatax is software, not a CPA firm, enrolled agent, or tax attorney, and this tool is an educational estimate — not individualised tax advice. It produces a worksheet you review, verify, and file yourself. Atamatax can also assemble IRS-ready Form 8621 PDFs as part of a full return that you then file.
- Could a QEF election lower the tax?
- Often, yes — a Qualified Electing Fund (QEF) election generally taxes the fund as a long-term capital gain with no interest charge, which can be thousands of dollars cheaper than §1291. It usually has to be made for the first year you hold the fund and requires the fund's PFIC Annual Information Statement. Use the §1291 vs QEF estimator to compare.
- Do I still have to report the fund on FBAR and Form 8938?
- Usually. A foreign fund held in a foreign account counts toward the FBAR (FinCEN 114) $10,000 trigger and the Form 8938 (FATCA) thresholds, which are separate from Form 8621. Use the FBAR & Form 8938 threshold checker to see whether you cross them.
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