Hi everyone,
I’m a U.S. citizen living in the UK and only recently found out that Americans abroad are still required to file U.S. taxes and FBARs, even when living overseas long term.
I’m now looking into the IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures program to get compliant. From what I understand, I need to file 3 years of U.S. tax returns and 6 years of FBARs.
I contacted H&R Block because I recognized the name and initially they quoted me around $1,400 USD. After completing their online tax interview, they came back with a quote closer to $2,300 USD, which surprised me because my situation seems pretty straightforward.
My situation:
Living/working in the UK for years
Income under about £55k
Not self employed
No business or rental income
No significant savings/investments
Never had more than around £10k in bank accounts
A couple of UK workplace pensions worth roughly £35k combined
No U.S. income
No sales of property, stocks etc
I’m trying to understand whether that quote sounds reasonable for a relatively simple streamlined filing, or whether I should be looking elsewhere.
Has anyone here gone through Streamlined from the UK with a similar situation?
If so:
Who did you use?
Roughly what did you pay?
Any firms you’d recommend or avoid?
So far this whole process has been pretty stressful, so I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through it and come out the other side.
Thank you!