FileAbroad

Late expat returns consultation

Behind on U.S. Tax Returns Abroad? Map What Was Missed Before You Choose a Filing Path.

Late U.S. returns are not automatically a Streamlined case. The next step depends on which returns, income, international information forms, and FBARs are missing; where you lived; what happened after you learned about the obligations; whether the IRS contacted you; and which deadlines remain open. In a paid consultation, I build the year-by-year filing map, identify procedure and referral questions, and define the next practical scope.

Start My Late Return Intake

The preliminary intake is free. Do not send sensitive tax documents through the public intake form.

30 minutes · Directly with Chip

The consultation

What we'll review

The consultation focuses on the facts that determine what needs further attention.

Year-by-year filing map

U.S. tax status, residence, travel, filing thresholds, extensions, federal and state returns, transcripts, and whether each year appears unfiled, filed, amended, rejected, or subject to an IRS-prepared substitute return.

Income, foreign tax, and records

Worldwide income categories, source and activity facts, foreign tax paid or withheld, prior elections or exclusions, and the records available to support an ordinary or corrective filing scope.

International forms and FBARs

Foreign accounts, assets, entities, trusts, gifts, pensions, funds, and digital assets; which information returns or FBARs may be missing; and whether the issue is separate from the income-tax returns.

Chronology before choosing a procedure

When each obligation was learned, advice received, and actions taken afterward, so procedure and attorney-review questions can be identified without deciding non-willfulness or reasonable cause in the intake.

IRS contact, deadlines, and next scope

Notices, examinations, investigations, substitute returns, assessments, collection activity, state contact, refund and petition concerns, and whether the next step is preparation, separate research or notice review, or referral.

After the call

What you leave with

By the end of the consultation, you should understand the issues that need attention and the next practical step.

  • A year-by-year map separating unfiled original returns, corrections to filed returns, international information returns, FBARs, and state filings.
  • An issue list showing which ordinary filing, Streamlined, delinquent-reporting, notice, refund, representation, or attorney-review questions require further work—without a willfulness conclusion.
  • A records request for income, foreign tax, residence, travel, account, entity, trust, prior-filing, transcript, and notice support.
  • A practical next step: accepted preparation, a separately scoped calculation, research, or notice review, or referral to a qualified tax attorney or representative.

You are not required to hire FileAbroad for preparation after the consultation.

Scope

What the consultation does not include

The consultation is a review and scoping session. It does not include preparation or filing of a tax return, FBAR, information return, amended return, or Streamlined submission.

It also does not create an open-ended support engagement. Additional research, document review, preparation, or follow-up work is included only when it is specifically agreed or purchased.

FileAbroad does not provide legal advice or tax litigation services.

The process

How it works

  1. 1

    Start the intake.

    Tell me the broad facts of your situation without uploading sensitive tax documents through the public form.

  2. 2

    I review the inquiry.

    I personally review the intake to determine whether a FileAbroad consultation appears appropriate.

  3. 3

    Book the consultation.

    If the situation fits, you'll receive the next step for scheduling the 30-minute paid consultation.

  4. 4

    We review the situation together.

    We use the call to identify the relevant filing questions, missing information, and practical next step.

  5. 5

    Preparation is separate.

    If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, the scope and price are confirmed before that work begins.

Before you book

Questions we'll use to map your late filing history

Which U.S. federal and state income-tax returns did you file or miss for each year, what was your U.S. tax status, and where did you live and spend time during those years?
What types of income did you receive in each missing year, where were the services or investments located, what foreign tax was paid or withheld, and which income and tax records are available?
Which foreign accounts, financial assets, businesses, partnerships, trusts, gifts, pensions, funds, or digital assets did you have, and were any FBARs or Forms 8938, 3520, 5471, 8865, 8858, or 8621 filed?
When and how did you first learn about the possible U.S. filing obligations, what advice or notices did you receive, and what filings, payments, extensions, corrections, or other steps did you take afterward?
Has the IRS, FinCEN, or a state contacted you about any missing return, account report, tax, penalty, examination, substitute return, or collection matter, and is any response, petition, refund, or filing deadline approaching?
What should I send before the consultation?

Start with the public intake and describe the broad facts of your situation. Do not send Social Security numbers, tax returns, bank statements, or other sensitive tax documents through the public intake form. If documents are needed later, I will provide secure upload instructions.

Will you tell me exactly what I need to file?

The consultation is designed to identify the filing issues that need attention and the information required to determine the next step. Some questions can be resolved during the call; others may require records, additional research, or preparation work outside the consultation.

Do I have to hire FileAbroad afterward?

No. The consultation stands on its own. If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, you can decide whether to proceed after the scope and price are confirmed.

Can you review documents during the consultation?

Limited document review may be possible when agreed in advance, but the consultation is not a substitute for a full document review or tax-preparation engagement.

Related paths

If this is not the right starting point

Streamlined Foreign Offshore consultation

Use this procedure-specific path only when the facts warrant a current Streamlined Foreign Offshore screening.

FBAR catch-up consultation

Use the FBAR path when filed income-tax returns are otherwise current and missed or incomplete FBARs are the known historical issue.

Amended expat return consultation

Use the amendment path when a filed return may be inaccurate and the correction question—not an unfiled original—is primary.

IRS notice abroad consultation

Use the notice path when an IRS letter, substitute-return proposal, examination, assessment, collection action, or response deadline is primary.

Accidental American consultation

Use the status path when citizenship, taxpayer identification, FATCA banking, or renunciation questions remain part of the core problem.

Streamlined filing guide

Read the current procedure-specific framework after the filing inventory shows why Streamlined may be relevant.

Expat tax filing service

Use the ordinary filing service when the required returns and filing path are already known and no corrective-path triage is needed.

Start here

Tell me what's going on.

You don't need to know which form, filing procedure, or service you need. Start with the broad facts, and I'll review whether a FileAbroad consultation is the appropriate next step.

Start My Late Return Intake

Prefer email? info@fileabroad.com

Do not send sensitive tax documents through the public intake form or ordinary email.