Comparison · updated monthly
H&R Block Expat brings brand trust and full 50-state e-file today. But its DIY product is thin on Form 8621, and the assisted option is CPA-priced.
H&R Block Expat offers two paths: a self-guided DIY product and assisted 'Expat Tax Advisors'. The brand carries real trust and — importantly — full 50-state e-file is live today. The trade-off is that the DIY product is thin on Form 8621, and getting expert help means assisted, CPA-priced service. Atamatax is purpose-built self-serve software for the PFIC / Form 8621 case, with a flat price and a free draft.
Who H&R Block Expat is for
H&R Block Expat fits filers who want a household-name brand, need e-file and a state return done today, or want the option to escalate to a human advisor — and whose foreign investments are simple enough that thin PFIC coverage isn't a blocker.
Where each sits
Products in different categories are not better or worse than each other; they are for different returns. The category that matches your situation is the one to compare inside.
H&R Block Expat
Self-serve tax software
You enter the figures and file the return yourself; the software computes the forms it supports.
General expat preparation
A preparer or a workflow built for Americans abroad across the common forms — 2555, 1116, FBAR, 8938 — with foreign funds handled as an add-on.
Atamatax
Complex foreign-investment workflow
Import the foreign portfolio, identify the PFICs, compute the allocation per holding and per year, reconstruct missing basis, and produce the workpapers.
Professional handoff
The analysis packaged for an accountant to file from — classification with its reason, worksheets per holding, threshold arithmetic, an assumption log.
Self-serve tax software
You enter the figures and file the return yourself; the software computes the forms it supports.
Side-by-side
Model
- Atamatax
- Self-serve software, PFIC-specialized.
- H&R Block Expat
- DIY product plus assisted Expat Tax Advisors.
Pricing
- Atamatax
- $299 / $499 / $799 flat per return, published.
- H&R Block Expat
- DIY tiered; assisted is CPA-priced.
Free draft before paying
- Atamatax
- On-screen draft free; pay to generate the PDF package.
- H&R Block Expat
- No free finished draft before payment.
Form 8621 (PFIC)
- Atamatax
- Core specialty; built-in, up to 25 per return.
- H&R Block Expat
- DIY product is thin on 8621; depth needs assisted.
FBAR (FinCEN 114) & FATCA (Form 8938)
- Atamatax
- Generated in the same flow.
- H&R Block Expat
- Supported across DIY and assisted.
Treaty positions (Form 8833)
- Atamatax
- Dedicated FR / UK / DE / CA / AU desks.
- H&R Block Expat
- Best handled via assisted advisors.
Brand trust & support reach
- Atamatax
- Independent specialist; refers complex cases to CPAs.
- H&R Block Expat
- Established brand with assisted human advisors.
Integrated e-file
- Atamatax
- Reviewable PDF package with step-by-step filing instructions; you file it.
- H&R Block Expat
- Full e-file across all 50 states today.
State returns
- Atamatax
- Federal-only in v1.
- H&R Block Expat
- 50 states.
Each row states what the two products do as of September 2026. We update this page when their offering changes — tell us if it's out of date.
Two Atamatax product lines appear in this table. Self-serve software for one tax year — $299 (no PFICs), $499 (up to 25 Forms 8621) and $799 (treaty positions) — and the Streamlined catch-up preparation tiers at $1,590–$2,990+, which are quoted in writing after a free scope check and prepared with you. They are different services at different prices.
Bottom line
If you need a state return or an assisted advisor filing for you, H&R Block covers that. Atamatax provides self-serve PFIC / Form 8621 calculations and a reviewable federal package with filing instructions; you file it.
Before choosing either
Check the facts the price depends on
How this comparison was made
- Competitor facts come from H&R Block Expat's own published pages — the price list, the plan descriptions, the forms list — and are linked under Sources where a public page exists. Where a price is quoted per case, the table says so rather than guessing a number.
- H&R Block Expat publishes its pricing per engagement rather than as a list, so the table describes the model and quotes no figure.
- Atamatax's prices are rendered from the pricing configuration the checkout uses, so the table cannot show a price the product does not charge.
- Rows describe scope, not quality: no cell is marked as a winner, and the bottom line says who is better served by the other product.
Out of date? Tell us and the row is re-read. Atamatax pricing · Comparison methodology and index
Sources
Compare on your own situation
Which Atamatax package would your return actually need?
A few questions name the forms, the package and the price for your year — then the comparison above is about you, not about a generic expat.
Or skip the questions: the on-screen draft is free and you pay when you generate the package — start my return.