Why Can’t I Just Do My Own U.S. Expat Tax Return Without Professional Help?

You can, technically, but the expat return adds a layer of complexity that off-the-shelf tax software wasn’t built to handle. The pieces a generalist tool tends to miss:

• FEIE eligibility: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, the Physical Presence Test calculation, and the Bona Fide Residence Test, where day-counting and tax-home eligibility decisions matter
• FTC strategy: Foreign Tax Credit stacking with FEIE and choosing the right approach for your country
• FBAR rules: FinCEN Form 114 filing thresholds, account aggregation, and signing-authority rules
• FATCA reporting: Form 8938 (different threshold than FBAR, often confused)
• Foreign business and trust forms: Like Form 5471, Form 3520, Form 8865, Form 8858
• PFIC reporting: If you have foreign mutual funds, ETFs, or pension assets

A U.S.-credentialed accountant who handles expat returns daily catches what off-the-shelf software and generalist preparers miss. 

If you’d rather have an expert handle it once and get it right every year after, see the services and pricing page.