Comparison · updated monthly
Online Taxman is a boutique US-CPA firm for expats and businesses. It's a done-for-you service — there's no self-serve product and no free draft.
Online Taxman is a small, expat-focused US CPA firm that prepares your return for you, with a particular strength in expats who also run a business. Engagements are quote-based per service rather than a fixed software price, and there's no DIY product. Atamatax is the opposite shape: self-serve software with a flat price and a free draft before you pay — purpose-built for the PFIC/Form 8621 case.
Who Online Taxman is for
Online Taxman fits expats who want a real CPA to handle everything for them — especially business owners with foreign corporations, complex multi-year situations, or anyone who'd rather hand it off than touch a form. If you want a human to own the return end to end, that's their genuine strength.
Side-by-side
Delivery model
- Atamatax
- Self-serve software you drive yourself.
- Online Taxman
- Done-for-you preparation by a CPA.
Pricing
- Atamatax Winner
- $299 / $499 / $799 flat per return, shown upfront.
- Online Taxman
- Quote-based / per-service; varies by complexity.
Free draft before paying
- Atamatax Winner
- Yes — see your real numbers before you finalise.
- Online Taxman
- No free draft; engagement starts on quote acceptance.
Form 8621 (PFIC)
- Atamatax Winner
- Built-in; up to 25 per return.
- Online Taxman
- Handled by the CPA as part of the engagement.
FBAR + FATCA (Form 8938)
- Atamatax
- Generated in the same flow.
- Online Taxman
- Prepared by the firm.
Treaty positions (Form 8833)
- Atamatax
- Dedicated FR / UK / DE / CA / AU desks.
- Online Taxman
- Handled case-by-case by a CPA.
Turnaround speed
- Atamatax Winner
- Same-session draft; finalise on your schedule.
- Online Taxman
- Depends on firm capacity and back-and-forth.
Business / foreign-corp complexity
- Atamatax
- Refers complex cases to independent CPAs.
- Online Taxman Winner
- Core strength — CPAs handle business filings.
Human CPA judgement on edge cases
- Atamatax
- Software; refers truly complex cases out.
- Online Taxman Winner
- Real CPAs on every return.
The marked column indicates which product handles the feature more completely as of June 2026. We update this page when their offering changes — tell us if it's out of date.
Bottom line
If you have a foreign business, a tangled multi-year situation, or simply want a CPA to own the whole thing, Online Taxman is a strong choice — that's what a boutique firm is for. If your return is a salary plus foreign brokerage accounts and a stack of PFICs, Atamatax does it self-serve at a flat price, lets you see the draft for free first, and ships faster — and we refer the genuinely complex cases out to independent CPAs anyway.
Try it free
The draft is always free. You only pay when you finalise.
Start the wizard, see your real numbers, and decide from there.