International tax accountant
Once you live or hold assets outside the US, the IRS expects extra reports on top of your return. As your international tax accountant, we file those reports alongside your return.
Call 855-203-8957- You live outside the US. We file your return with the foreign earned income exclusion or foreign tax credit.
- You hold foreign accounts, gifts or companies. We file your FBAR (foreign bank account report) and the matching IRS forms.
- You missed past filings. We check whether you qualify for the IRS streamlined procedures and prepare the late filings.
International tax forms we prepare
| Form | Who files it | Filed with |
|---|---|---|
| FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) | US persons with foreign accounts over the FinCEN threshold | FinCEN |
| Form 8938 | US taxpayers with foreign financial assets over the IRS thresholds | The IRS, with your return |
| Form 2555 | US citizens and residents claiming the foreign earned income exclusion | The IRS, with your return |
| Form 3520 | US persons with foreign gifts, inheritances or foreign trusts above the limits | The IRS, separately from your return |
| Form 5471 | US officers, directors and shareholders of certain foreign corporations | The IRS, with your return |
| Form 5472 | US corporations 25% foreign owned, and US LLCs owned by one foreign person | The IRS, with the entity's return |
| Form 8621 | US persons with foreign mutual funds or other passive foreign companies over the IRS thresholds | The IRS, with your return |
Form 8938 vs FBAR: which one you file
You file both when you pass both tests. The IRS and FinCEN set each test separately.
FBAR
You count foreign financial accounts, such as bank and brokerage accounts.
You file once your foreign accounts total more than $10,000 at any point in the year.
It is due April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.
Form 8938
You also count foreign assets held outside an account, such as shares in a foreign company.
A single filer living in the US files once they hold over $50,000 in foreign assets at year end or $75,000 during the year.
Filers living abroad have higher thresholds, starting at $200,000 at year end.
IRS streamlined procedures for missed foreign reporting
If you missed foreign reporting through a mistake or misunderstanding, the IRS treats that as not willful and offers two routes. People living in the US use the streamlined domestic offshore procedures. People with no US home who spent 330 full days abroad in one of the last 3 years use the streamlined foreign offshore procedures.
Two streamlined routes when a missed filing was not willful
Catching up on missed foreign reporting with the IRS
Streamlined domestic offshore
Who uses it
You live in the US
Offshore penalty
5% of the highest balance of the unreported foreign assets at the end of a covered year
What you file
Amended returns for 3 years and FBARs for 6 years
Streamlined foreign offshore
Who uses it
You meet the IRS test for living abroad
Offshore penalty
0% no offshore penalty on top of tax and interest
What you file
Late or amended returns for 3 years and FBARs for 6 years
Source: IRS streamlined filing compliance procedures
Alexander Accountants, CPAs Harvard, MA
The IRS can charge FBAR penalties of up to $16,536 per report for penalties assessed in 2026 if you were not willful. If you were willful, it charges per account, at the greater of $165,353 or half the balance.
If you owe no tax and missed only information returns, we file them late under the IRS delinquent return procedures with a reasonable cause statement. We answer the penalty notice if one follows.
As your international tax accountant, we review each missed year before recommending a route.
Limits and penalties for Forms 2555, 3520, 5471 and 5472
Living abroad. On Form 2555, you can exclude up to $130,000 of foreign earned income for 2025 and $132,900 for 2026. You qualify with a full tax year of residence abroad or 330 full days abroad in 12 months. If you save more by crediting foreign tax you paid, we claim the foreign tax credit. Massachusetts does not allow the exclusion, so if you stay a Massachusetts resident while abroad, we add the excluded wages back on your state return.
Foreign gifts. We file Form 3520 foreign gift reports when you receive over $100,000 in a year from a nonresident alien (a non-US person) or a foreign estate. The IRS can charge 5% of the gift per month you file late, up to 25%.
Foreign companies. The IRS charges $10,000 for each foreign corporation and year you leave off Form 5471. It charges $25,000 for each missing Form 5472.
For Canadian accounts, returns or a move to or from Canada, talk to our cross border accountant team.
How we set international tax accountant fees
Our Harvard, MA team quotes once we know where you live, what you hold and which years you missed.
Forms. We price each information return, such as Form 5471, on top of your base return.
Accounts. We add time for each extra foreign account or asset you hold.
Past years. We quote a streamlined filing as one project, priced across the missed years.
Countries. If more than one country taxes your income, we add foreign tax credit work.
A return with one FBAR and no missed years is the lightest quote. These are the factors, not a quote. You get the quote before we start.
“Excellent service, very attentive and professional. They are patient and respond to questions swiftly.”
Talk to an international tax CPA in Harvard, MA
Start with the countries involved and the years you missed. An international tax CPA on our team tells you what you owe the IRS in reports and tax.
Our team keeps your details confidential.
Reviewed by Xintian Wang, CPA, Harvard, MA. Senior Tax Manager at Alexander Accountants, CPAs.