Short answer: for a straightforward case, preparer fees for a complete Streamlined Foreign Offshore package land around US $2,000–$2,500. That's not the only cost — there's also any tax owed and late-payment interest — but the preparer fee is the line most people want to pin down first.
This post breaks down where that number comes from, what pushes it up or down, and which "costs" are actually costs of waiting rather than costs of filing.
The three things you're paying for
It helps to separate the bucket you pay the preparer from the buckets you pay the IRS. Conflating them makes Streamlined feel scarier than it needs to.
1. The preparer fee — your only negotiable cost
Everything in this bucket goes to the firm preparing your package. For a typical case the components look like:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Federal return, per year × 3 | $650 × 3 = $1,950 |
| State return, per state per year | $150 × however many required |
| FBAR bundle, 6 years (up to 24 accounts total) | ~$100 |
| Form 14653 non-willful certification | Usually bundled into the package price |
That puts a "simple" case — three federal years, three state years, one basic FBAR bundle — at roughly $2,500 total. Our pricing page covers what drives that number up or down; the actual figure is quoted case by case.
This is the number that varies by preparer. You have some shopping latitude here, though the differences between competent providers are usually small.
2. Tax owed to the IRS — often zero, sometimes real
This is tax due on the unreported income, after applying either the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) or Foreign Tax Credit (FTC).
For most US expats who've been living abroad full-time with foreign-sourced wage income, the number here ends up close to zero — the FEIE (up to $126,500 per person in 2024, indexed annually) or FTC (dollar-for-dollar credit for foreign taxes paid) typically eliminates the US tax liability.
You still owe tax if:
- You had US-source income that wasn't on a W-2 or 1099 (rental, self-employment, capital gains from US property)
- Your foreign country's tax rate is lower than the US equivalent and you exceed the FEIE
- You have significant passive income (dividends, interest, capital gains on foreign securities)
- You own a foreign corporation subject to GILTI rules (high-earning business owners abroad)
For the majority of "forgot to file my 1040 while working in Tokyo/Bangkok/Dublin" cases, this bucket is small or zero.
3. Late-payment interest — mechanical, not penal
If tax is owed on any of the three years you're filing, the IRS charges statutory late-payment interest from the original due date. Rates are set quarterly and — under IRC §6622(a) — compound daily. Historical rates have ranged from roughly 3% in 2016–2021 to 7–8% in 2023–2025, so the effective rate on old balances is a blend.
Rough order of magnitude: a $500 tax bill from three years ago might accrue ~$130 in interest. A $5,000 tax bill from eight years ago is closer to $3,000–$4,500 depending on how much of the period overlapped the high-rate quarters. Large tax liabilities from far-back years get expensive, and daily compounding means they grow noticeably faster than simple-interest math would suggest.
What's NOT in this bucket: failure-to-file penalties, failure-to-pay penalties, FBAR non-willful penalties, accuracy-related penalties. Those are all normally $10,000+ per year per form, and they're all waived under Streamlined if your submission is accepted. That's the entire point of the program.
What pushes the preparer fee up
The flat rate breakdown above is for a clean case. Several factors move it.
Multiple states. If you maintained domicile in California, New York, Oregon, Virginia, or a few other "sticky" states during your expat years, you owe state returns too. Each state × each year = one line item. A Californian with three back years owes three state returns (~$450 in fees) on top of the federal side.
Foreign corporation ownership (Form 5471). If you own 10% or more of a non-US corporation — common for consultants who set up a local company — each year adds $400–$1,200 to the fee for the 5471 preparation. This is the single biggest fee driver because Form 5471 is one of the heaviest forms in the code.
Foreign mutual funds (PFICs). If you bought Japanese mutual funds, or any non-US ETF, or a foreign money-market account, you're in PFIC territory. Each PFIC needs its own Form 8621 per year. Fees scale with the number of holdings; can easily add $500–$2,000 if you held several.
Rental properties abroad. Schedule E per rental per year. Add $100 per rental per year. Plus, if you've been depreciating the property improperly, there's cleanup work to establish basis.
Lots of foreign accounts (FBAR). The FBAR bundle base fee covers up to 24 accounts across the six years. Beyond that, fees go up — typically +$350 for the 25+ account bracket.
Self-employment. +$100 for Schedule C / SE each year. Plus Totalization Agreement work if applicable.
Unusual or complicated non-willfulness narrative. Most Form 14653 certifications are straightforward ("moved for work in 2014, didn't realize filing continued to be required"). Ones that turn on a disputed fact pattern (prior CPA advice, partial filings, mixed-willfulness periods) need extra care and may push the fee.
What pushes the preparer fee down
Not much, honestly. The number of years (3 federal, 6 FBAR) is fixed by the program — you can't shorten the window. Anyone quoting you significantly less than $1,500 for a complete Streamlined package is either cutting corners on the non-willful narrative, outsourcing to a less-experienced preparer, or missing work they'll later catch.
The one realistic way the price moves down: if you've already gathered and organized your documents cleanly before engagement. Some preparers charge less for "assembly-ready" packages.
The costs of not filing — usually bigger than filing
It's worth naming these because people sometimes delay Streamlined thinking they're "saving money." The math almost always goes the other way.
FATCA fallout. Banks in your country are required to report US-person accounts to the IRS. Some banks are closing accounts of US persons who can't produce a W-9 or current filing. That's a practical cost.
If you're caught before coming forward, Streamlined is no longer available. Non-willful FBAR penalties become statutory ($10,000/year maximum per year, per the Supreme Court's 2023 Bittner decision). Willful FBAR penalties go up to 50% of account balance per violation. Those sums dwarf a $2,500 preparer fee.
Stress and ambiguity. This is real but hard to price. Most people report that the relief of being back in compliance is worth more than the fee paid several times over.
A worked example
Mike, American, living in Osaka since 2017, never filed US returns because he "paid Japanese taxes." Has a salary job plus one local checking account and a modest local savings account. No rentals, no businesses, no investments outside the local bank. California domicile before he left.
Mike's Streamlined package:
- 3 federal returns × $650 = $1,950
- 3 California state returns × $150 = $450 (Mike might owe California residency money too, but the returns are required regardless)
- FBAR 6-year bundle (2 accounts, well under 24) = $100
- Form 14653 — included
Total preparer fee: $2,500
Mike's IRS bucket: likely near zero. Japanese salary is well within FEIE; local bank interest is nominal; FTC covers any small amount. Maybe a few hundred dollars of California state tax if the state argues he never broke domicile. Interest on that: small.
Total out-the-door: ~$2,500–$3,000. One-time. Then he's current, clean, and back on the normal annual filing cycle (which runs about $650/year going forward for just the federal return).
What to watch out for
Preparers who won't give you a fee before engagement. Expect a scope-plus-fee estimate before you sign anything. A firm unwilling to commit to a number is either winging it or reserving the right to scale up.
Flat-rate claims that don't account for your specifics. If a preparer quotes $999 for "any Streamlined case" without asking about states, 5471s, PFICs, or rentals, they're either going to surprise-bill you later or do the work badly.
"Tax attorney" pricing for simple cases. Streamlined is a tax preparation process, not a legal process. Unless you have willfulness exposure or are already under examination, you don't need a tax attorney — you need a competent preparer. Tax attorneys typically charge $400–$800/hour; they're warranted for complex fact patterns but overkill for straight-line Streamlined.
Getting a quote for your case
If the "typical case" description doesn't quite match your situation, send us a short message describing the shape of the complexity — country of residence, whether you own any foreign companies or real estate, which state you came from. The contact form passes it to our partner firm, Capital Tax Limited, who comes back with a line-itemed quote based on what you actually need rather than a generic "starting at" number.
If your situation is the typical case, check your eligibility and Capital Tax Limited will follow up with a quote and next steps.