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US expat tax calculator
Most Americans abroad have to file a US tax return, and most of them owe nothing on it — the two facts are separate, and confusing them is how people end up years behind. This calculator works out which filings your situation points at: the return itself, the FBAR, FATCA Form 8938, PFIC Form 8621, foreign company and trust reporting, and whether a Streamlined catch-up may be relevant.
13 questions — up to 16 if you are behind on filings — with no email and no exact balances. Every answer comes back with the reason it appeared and, where the result is still open, the one fact that would settle it.
You · step 1 of 13
This tool is educational. It applies published US filing rules to the answers you enter and indicates what is likely to apply — it is not tax, legal or accounting advice, not an IRS determination, and not a substitute for reviewing your own facts with a professional. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
The rules behind the result
Short summaries, each linking to the page that covers it properly. Nothing here is a substitute for reading the one that applies to you.
Who has to file US taxes from abroad
The US is one of a very small number of countries that taxes on citizenship rather than residence. That single fact is what creates the whole expat filing problem: leaving the country does not end the obligation, and neither does never having lived there. The thresholds are the ordinary ones, plus two that catch people out — $400 of self-employment income, and $5 for a filer married separately from a non-US spouse.
Do I need to file US taxes abroad?Whether you will actually owe anything
For most Americans abroad the answer is no, because the exclusion or the credit covers it. Which of the two fits depends mostly on whether your country taxes you more heavily than the US does — and on what kind of income you have, since the exclusion reaches only earned income while the credit also covers pensions, rent and investments.
FEIE vs the Foreign Tax CreditThe FBAR
The reporting form most people miss, because it is not a tax form and does not arrive with the return. It is due whenever your combined non-US accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year, it is filed with FinCEN rather than the IRS, and it is required whether or not you owe a cent.
FBAR filing for US expatsFATCA and Form 8938
The other foreign-asset form, with higher thresholds, a broader definition of what counts, and a place on your return rather than a separate filing. Most people who file one file both, and the overlap between them is partial enough that neither substitutes for the other.
FBAR vs Form 8938, comparedPFICs — the expensive one
Non-US funds and ETFs are the single most consequential thing on an expat return. The default §1291 regime allocates a gain or excess distribution across every year you held the fund, taxes each slice at that year's highest ordinary rate, and adds interest. A QEF or mark-to-market election avoids that, but both have to be made in time and need information the fund may not publish.
PFICs and Form 8621Americans who have never filed
Far more common than most people assume, and it is the situation with the clearest published route out. What matters is getting there before the IRS makes contact, and having the willfulness question answered by someone qualified to answer it.
Never filed US taxes abroadStreamlined filing
Three years of returns, six years of FBARs, no miscellaneous offshore penalty on the foreign track, and a certification signed under penalty of perjury. The eligibility gates are published and specific — including one about physical presence that most summaries leave out.
Streamlined Foreign Offshore ProceduresThe dates
Americans abroad get an automatic two-month extension to file, which is not an extension to pay — interest runs from the April date regardless. The FBAR is separately and automatically extended to October, and a further discretionary extension to December exists for taxpayers abroad only.
US expat tax deadlinesNarrower tools, when one answer is still open
This calculator covers the whole picture at a coarse resolution. When a single question is the one that matters, these go deeper on it.
FBAR & Form 8938 threshold checker
Enter real balances instead of a band.
Is my fund a PFIC?
Answer three questions, or paste an ISIN.
Streamlined eligibility checker
Walks the published IRS gates one at a time.
Expat tax deadline checker
The dates that bind you, and the days remaining.
FEIE vs Foreign Tax Credit
A directional read on which relief fits.
PFIC portfolio analyzer
Your real holdings through the §1291 engine.
Frequently asked questions
Do US citizens living abroad have to file a US tax return?
Generally yes. The US taxes its citizens and green-card holders on worldwide income wherever they live, so the filing requirement follows the person rather than the money. The threshold is the same as for someone living in the US — the standard deduction for most filers — with two much lower ones that catch expats specifically: $400 of net self-employment earnings, and $5 of gross income for someone married filing separately from a non-US spouse.
Do American expats actually owe US tax?
Often not. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Foreign Tax Credit between them eliminate the US liability for a large share of Americans abroad — but both are claimed ON a return, so they reduce what you owe rather than whether you file. Owing nothing and filing nothing are different things, and the second one is what creates a problem.
What is the FBAR threshold?
An FBAR is generally required when the aggregate value of your non-US financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. It is the combined peak across every account, not the year-end balance and not any single account — so moving money between two of your own accounts can put the same funds on both sides of the total.
How is Form 8938 different from the FBAR?
Form 8938 is filed with your tax return; the FBAR is filed separately with FinCEN. Form 8938's thresholds are much higher and rise again if you live abroad — $200,000 at year end or $300,000 at any point for a single filer overseas, against the FBAR's $10,000. Because Form 8938 rides on the return, someone with no filing requirement has no Form 8938 requirement either, however large the assets. The FBAR is not conditional in that way.
Are my foreign ETFs a problem?
Usually, yes. Almost every fund organised outside the US — a UCITS ETF, a local mutual fund, many insurance-wrapped products — is a passive foreign investment company for a US owner, and generally needs its own Form 8621 each year. What decides it is where the fund is organised, not what it holds: an Ireland-domiciled ETF tracking the S&P 500 is still a PFIC.
I have never filed a US return from abroad. What now?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures exist for exactly that: a non-willful failure to file by someone whose tax home is outside the US. It asks for the last three years of returns, six years of FBARs, and a certification signed under penalty of perjury. The certification is why the willfulness question has to be settled by a professional before anything is submitted — and why this calculator says a candidacy is possible rather than telling anyone they qualify.
Is this calculator tax advice?
No. It applies published filing rules to the answers you enter and indicates what is likely to apply. It computes no tax, makes no IRS determination, and cannot see the facts that decide the hard cases. Everything you type stays in your browser.
Authorities cited
- IRC §6012 — IRC §6012 — Persons required to make returns of income
- IRS · US citizens and resident aliens abroad — IRS — U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad (filing requirement and automatic extension)
- IRS Publication 54 — About Publication 54 — Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
- 31 U.S.C. §5314 — 31 U.S.C. §5314 — Statutory basis for the FBAR (foreign financial account reporting)
- 31 CFR §1010.350 — 31 CFR §1010.350 — FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) filing requirement and $10,000 threshold
- IRC §6038D — IRC §6038D — Information reporting of specified foreign financial assets (Form 8938)
- IRS Form 8938 — About Form 8938 — Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
- IRC §1297 — IRC §1297 — Definition of a passive foreign investment company
- IRS Form 8621 — About Form 8621 — Information Return by a Shareholder of a PFIC or QEF
- IRC §6038 — IRC §6038 — information reporting with respect to certain foreign corporations and partnerships
- Form 5471 — Form 5471 — Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations
- IRC §911 — IRC §911 — Foreign earned income exclusion + housing exclusion/deduction
- IRC §901 — IRC §901 — Taxes of foreign countries and U.S. possessions
- IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures — U.S. Taxpayers Residing Outside the United States — Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures
Primary sources (Cornell Legal Information Institute for the US Code and CFR; IRS.gov for forms, procedures, and treaty documents). This page is general information, not individualized tax or legal advice.