US Tax Return Cost for an American in Canada
The IRS charges nothing to file, so the cost is your time or a preparer. Expat software starts at $115 (MyExpatTaxes Base Lite) and $124 plus $49 per FBAR (H&R Block). Expat firms publish $450 (Taxes for Expats), $565 (Greenback) and a typical $1,000 to $1,200 (WCG CPAs) for the US federal return alone. Our US Expat Compliance package starts at $1,745 per person and covers the US and Canadian returns together, with the FBAR, Form 8938 and T1135. Compare all our prices on what cross-border tax help costs.
A US citizen or green-card holder in Canada generally files a Form 1040 every year, usually with Form 1116 for the foreign tax credit or Form 2555 for the earned income exclusion. Add an FBAR if your foreign accounts together topped $10,000 at any point, and Form 8938 above the living-abroad thresholds. TFSAs, RESPs, Canadian funds and a Canadian corporation can each add a form and a cost. The expat firm prices below are for US-side work; none of them lists a Canadian T1.
What goes into a US return for an American in Canada?
A Form 1040 reporting your worldwide income, plus the forms that stop Canada and the US taxing the same dollar twice. The Form 1040 instructions say you generally attach Form 1116 to claim a foreign tax credit, and point to Form 2555 to exclude foreign earned income. Information returns come on top.
- FBAR. Due if the combined value of your foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the year, per the IRS FBAR page. It’s due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15. The FBAR cost guide covers that piece alone.
- Form 8938. For someone living abroad, the Form 8938 instructions set the threshold at more than $200,000 on the last day of the year or $300,000 at any time if unmarried, and $400,000 or $600,000 on a joint return. See the Form 8938 guide.
- Possible extras. Form 3520 for a TFSA or RESP position, Form 8621 for Canadian funds, Form 5471 for a Canadian corporation.
The deadline helps a little. The IRS gives US citizens and residents living abroad an automatic 2-month extension, from April 15 to June 15 for a calendar-year return, with a statement attached. The obligations guide covers the full list.
What does it cost to file it yourself?
Neither the IRS nor FinCEN lists a filing fee for the return or the FBAR, so doing it yourself costs the software and your time. H&R Block’s expat do-it-yourself option starts at $124 plus $49 per FBAR. MyExpatTaxes’ Base Lite software plan is $115 for salary-only returns, and its Base plan is $175 with FBAR and FATCA reporting included.
Time is the larger cost. The Form 1040 instructions estimate 12 hours and $290 on average for all filers, 8 hours and $160 for a filer with no business schedules, and 21 hours and $610 with a Schedule C, E or F. Those are national averages for all 1040 filers, not cross-border filers specifically.
Software handles a Canadian salary well. It gets harder with a TFSA, Canadian funds or a mid-year move, because the software asks the question but doesn’t make the reporting call for you. Choosing between Form 1116 and Form 2555 is a judgment call, and the FEIE guide covers how it plays out for someone living in Canada.
What do expat tax firms charge for the US return?
Published prices we found for a prepared US federal return start at $259 (H&R Block with a tax advisor) and run to a typical $1,000 to $1,200 (WCG CPAs). The add-ons for the FBAR and Form 8938 differ a lot between firms, so compare the total for your account count, not the headline.
| Provider | Federal return | FBAR | Form 8938 | Scope note, per the provider’s page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H&R Block Expat, with a tax advisor | Starting at $259 | + $99 ($75 for additional years) | Not listed | Prices may vary by situation |
| MyExpatTaxes, Reviewed plan | $320 | Included | Included (FATCA) | Reviewed by a US tax professional |
| Taxes for Expats | $450 | $85 | $100 (up to 5 accounts) | Includes Form 1116 and Form 2555 |
| Greenback | $565 | $125 (up to 5 accounts) | $120+ | Includes Forms 1116 and 2555 and Schedules A to E |
| WCG CPAs, expat 1040 | $1,000 to $1,200 typical | $350 (up to 5 accounts) | $350 (up to 5 accounts) | Form 2555 for one spouse included |
Prices were checked on each provider’s page on October 18, 2026, in US dollars. They’re list prices for each provider’s US-side scope. None of them lists a Canadian T1.
What pushes the price up?
Accounts and entities, more than income. A salary, an RRSP and a chequing account is the cheap file. Each TFSA or RESP brings a trust reporting decision, each Canadian fund a Form 8621, each Canadian corporation a Form 5471. A US state return, a spouse’s return, rental property and a move in or out of Canada each add work.
- TFSA and RESP. A foreign trust reporting decision. Taxes for Expats lists Form 3520 and Form 3520-A at $400 each.
- Canadian funds. One Form 8621 per fund per year.
- A state return. Taxes for Expats lists $160 and Greenback $185 per state.
- More accounts. Taxes for Expats’ Form 8938 price covers up to 5 accounts; Greenback adds $60 for each further set of 5 FBAR accounts.
- Being behind. Late years are a different job. The streamlined cost guide covers it.
What does Blue Cloud charge for an American in Canada?
US Expat Compliance starts at $1,745 per person a year. It covers the coordinated US Form 1040 and Canadian T1, e-filed in both countries, with the FBAR for up to 10 accounts, Form 8938 and the T1135. A spouse’s second separate return is typically 50%. That’s a starting point, fixed in writing at the Diagnostic.
Add-ons are published too: $10 per FBAR account beyond 10, $125 per extra state return, $400 per Form 8621 fund, and from $600 per trust per year for Forms 3520 and 3520-A with a written TFSA or RESP position. Cross-Border Executive, from $2,745 per person, adds rental property on both sides, up to two PFIC filings and a TFSA/RESP position memo.
What does it cost to not file a US return?
The failure-to-file penalty under IRC 6651 is 5% of the tax due on the return for each month late, up to 25%. If the return is more than 60 days late, the minimum is the lesser of $525 or the full tax due for returns required to be filed in 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2024-40), rising to $535 for 2027 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
Because that penalty is a percentage of the tax due, a return with no US tax due after the foreign tax credit carries little or no failure-to-file penalty. The information returns are different. The maximum non-willful FBAR penalty is $16,536 per violation, the amount FinCEN set in January 2025 and still in force in October 2026, per FinCEN’s inflation table at 31 CFR 1010.821. For a willful violation it’s the greater of $165,353 or 50% of the account balance, under 31 USC 5321. A missed Form 8938 can cost $10,000, plus up to $50,000 more after an IRS notice.
If you’re several years behind, start with the never-filed guide and the streamlined cost guide before filing anything late.
What should I do next?
List what you’d hand a preparer: your Canadian slips, every account with its highest balance, any TFSA, RESP or non-registered fund, and any company you own. That list sets the price more than your income does. Then ask each firm whether its quote covers the Canadian return, and which add-ons your accounts trigger.
- The cross-border tax return cost guide covers both-country filing costs in more depth.
Start with a Diagnostic: a CPA licensed in the US and Canada reads your file and tells you in writing what's wrong and how to fix it, three to four business days after you finish the questions. The report is $250. If you hire us for any work after that, you get the $250 back as a discount on that work. Or send us your return or your letter and get a fixed price, free.
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Yarik Yarosh, CPA. "US Tax Return Cost for an American in Canada." Blue Cloud CPA, October 19, 2026. https://bluecloudcpa.com/guides/us-tax-return-american-in-canada-cost
This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.