How Much Does Expatriation Tax Advice Cost?

Giving up US citizenship has two price tags. The government fee is now $450, down from $2,350, under a State Department final rule that took effect April 13, 2026. The tax work is the larger cost: for someone who’s already current on their US filings and falls below the exit tax thresholds, the expatriation year’s returns and Form 8854 typically run $3,500 to $7,500. If you’re behind on US returns, add the cost of catching up first. Our Streamlined Catch-Up package starts at $2,745. If you’re a covered expatriate, with a net worth of $2 million or more or a high average tax bill, the exit tax computation and the valuations behind it can push professional fees to $10,000 to $25,000 or more. Immigration counsel, if you use one, is separate.

What does the government charge to renounce?

$450, paid to the State Department at the renunciation appointment. For more than a decade the fee was $2,350. The department’s final rule, published March 13, 2026, cut it back to $450 effective April 13, 2026.

The fee covers the consular process and the Certificate of Loss of Nationality. It has nothing to do with the IRS. The tax obligations that come with expatriating are a separate track, handled with the IRS on your final returns.

What does the tax side cost?

Typically $3,500 to $7,500 if you’re current on your US filings and below the exit tax thresholds, more if you have years to catch up first, and $10,000 to $25,000 or more if you’re a covered expatriate. It depends on which of those three situations you’re in.

Your situation	The work involved	Typical professional fees
Current on US filings, below the covered expatriate thresholds	Final-year dual-status return, Form 8854 with balance sheet, confirmation of five-year compliance	$3,500 to $7,500
Behind on US filings, below the thresholds	Catch-up filing first (streamlined procedures or the former-citizen relief procedures), then the above	Add the catch-up. Ours starts at $2,745
Covered expatriate	All of the above, plus mark-to-market gain computation on worldwide assets, deferred compensation and trust analysis, valuations	$10,000 to $25,000+, plus third-party appraisals

The ranges are what we see quoted and what we quote. Our own Renunciation package starts at $3,495 and covers the tax side only: the five-year compliance certification, Form 8854, and the final returns. Catch-up years are priced separately, and our Streamlined Catch-Up package starts at $2,745.

Why is five years of compliance part of the price?

Because Form 8854 makes you certify it under penalty of perjury. If you can’t certify that you met all your US federal tax obligations for the five years before expatriating, you’re a covered expatriate automatically, whatever your net worth. The Form 8854 instructions spell this out, and it’s the test that catches people who’ve lived abroad for decades without filing.

So the first job is an audit of your own history: returns, FBARs, and the information returns for foreign pensions, corporations, trusts, and mutual funds. Gaps generally get fixed before the renunciation date. There’s one exception that runs the other way. For people with simple histories who never filed at all, the IRS’s Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens are used after renouncing, and they can clear the slate without tax or penalties. They’re open only to someone with a net worth under $2 million, average tax below the covered expatriate threshold, total tax of $25,000 or less across the six years involved, and non-willful conduct. Everyone else with gaps generally uses the streamlined procedures.

Who is a covered expatriate?

Anyone who meets one of three tests on the expatriation date: a net worth test, an average tax liability test, and a compliance certification test. Meeting any one of them is enough. The figures for 2026 come from the Form 8854 instructions and Rev. Proc. 2025-32.

• Net worth of $2 million or more. This counts worldwide assets, including your home, pensions, and business interests. The threshold isn’t indexed for inflation.
• Average annual net income tax of more than $211,000 for the five years before expatriation ($206,000 for 2025 expatriations). This is tax liability, not income.
• Failure to certify five years of tax compliance on Form 8854.

There’s an exception that matters to many Canadians. Someone who was a citizen of both the US and another country from birth, is still a citizen and tax resident of that other country, and has been a US resident for no more than 10 of the last 15 years is exempt from the net worth and tax liability tests. The certification test still applies, so five clean years are still required.

A covered expatriate is treated as having sold all their property at fair market value the day before expatriating. Gain above an exclusion, $910,000 for 2026, is taxed on the final return. Deferred compensation, certain tax-deferred accounts, and trust interests have their own rules, and for a Canadian resident the interaction with RRSPs, pensions, and a principal residence is where most of the professional time goes. The renouncing from Canada guide works through a full example.

There’s a second cost that lands on family. Under section 2801, a US person who receives a gift or inheritance from a covered expatriate pays tax on it at the highest estate tax rate, currently 40%, above the annual exclusion. If your children are US citizens, covered status follows your money to them. The Form 708 guide covers how that works.

What if I just don’t file Form 8854?

Then the renunciation is complete for nationality purposes and incomplete for tax purposes. The form carries a $10,000 penalty for failure to file, and without it you haven’t certified compliance, which makes you a covered expatriate by default. Skipping one form to end up with exit tax exposure and a 40% tax on what your US heirs receive is the most expensive saving in this whole area.

Does this apply to green card holders?

Yes, if you’re a long-term resident, which the Form 8854 instructions define as a lawful permanent resident in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years. Years count even if you held the card for only part of them. Giving up the card, which is done on Form I-407, is an expatriating act, and the same three tests, the same Form 8854, and the same exit tax apply. The green card exit tax guide covers the year-counting rules and the planning window before year eight.

What should I do next?

Work out which row of the table you’re in before booking a consulate appointment, because the expatriation date fixes everything. It sets the five-year compliance window, the date your net worth is measured, and the tax year of your final return. Gifts, a home sale, or pension decisions made before that date can change the result, and none of them can be redone after it.

• The exit tax and Form 8854 guide covers the covered expatriate tests and the mark-to-market computation in detail.
• The dual-status return cost guide explains the final-year return that almost every expatriate files.
• The streamlined procedure cost guide covers catching up missed years first.

This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.