For Americans Living Abroad
Tajma Qorri, international tax specialist
Tajma Qorri
10+ Yrs Int’l Tax · AICPA Member

Living abroad and behind on U.S. taxes? There's a legal way back — with zero penalty if you qualify.

October 15 extension deadline: resolve your offshore filings before you file.

The IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures let non-willful Americans abroad catch up completely — returns, FBARs, and certification — with no offshore penalty for qualifying filers. Prepared start to finish by an international tax specialist. One flat fee, quoted in writing.

Your inquiry is confidential. No documents needed for the first conversation.

10+ Years: Plante Moran · Grant Thornton · Dean Dorton AICPA Member Clients in All 50 States & Abroad Featured in Fortune
How It Works

Three steps. You can see the end from here.

Most people carry this problem for years because they can't picture how it resolves. Here is the entire path.

1

Confidential Case Review

A free 15-minute introductory call with Tajma — from any time zone. She confirms whether you meet the non-residency test and whether the Streamlined Foreign Procedures fit your facts. No documents needed, no judgment. If your case needs an attorney instead, she tells you that too.

2

Fixed-Fee Quote, In Writing

A written Offshore Compliance Analysis ($750, credited in full toward your engagement) maps your program eligibility, the exact filing package, and one flat fee. You know the total cost before any work begins.

3

Everything Filed

Three years of returns — original or amended — six years of FBARs, all foreign information forms (5471, 8938, 3520 as needed), and the Form 14653 non-willfulness certification — prepared, reviewed with you, and filed. No offshore penalty for qualifying filers. Done.

Transparent Pricing

A flat fee, stated up front. Not "call for a consultation."

Streamlined Foreign — Complete Engagement
$4,500 – $9,000
Flat fee, fixed in writing before work begins. The quote depends on years, accounts, and foreign entities involved.
  • 3 years of federal returns — original or amended
  • 6 years of FBARs (FinCEN 114)
  • All required international forms — 5471, 8938, 8621, 3520
  • Non-residency eligibility analysis
  • Non-willfulness certification (Form 14653)
  • Zero offshore penalty for qualifying filers

The law firms bidding on the same search you just made will quote you "pricing available after consultation." Then it's $15,000–$40,000, billed hourly.

This work is tax preparation and program compliance — it's what Tajma did for over a decade at national firms, and it prices like specialist tax work, not litigation. If your facts genuinely need a tax attorney, she'll say so in the first 15 minutes and point you to one. Everything is handled remotely — clients in all 50 states and abroad.

The $750 written analysis is credited in full when you engage — so the diagnostic step costs nothing if you move forward.

Who Does the Work

One specialist. No hand-offs, no junior staff.

Tajma Qorri, international tax specialist

Tajma Qorri spent more than ten years in international tax at Plante Moran, Grant Thornton, and Dean Dorton before founding Qorri Tax Service as a specialist boutique. Streamlined filings, FBARs, and foreign information returns aren't a sideline — they're the entire practice.

The person you speak to on the first call is the person who prepares your certification statement, computes your penalty base, and signs the returns. Every engagement, personally, start to finish.

“Most people who call me have been carrying this quietly for years — they didn’t hide anything, they just didn’t know. My job is to fix it precisely, without drama, and get you back to not thinking about the IRS. You’ll work with me directly from the first call to the filed submission.”

— Tajma
Plante MoranGrant ThorntonDean DortonAICPA Member
The Questions Everyone Asks

Asked at 11pm, answered honestly.

Do I qualify for the zero-penalty Foreign version?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures require two things: non-willful conduct, and meeting the non-residency test. For U.S. citizens and green-card holders, that generally means that in at least one of the three most recent tax years, you had no U.S. abode and were physically outside the United States for at least 330 full days. Most Americans genuinely living abroad meet it; border cases — split years, U.S. property, frequent travel — need a careful look. Eligibility depends on your specific facts, and it's exactly what the free case review assesses first. If you don't meet the test, the Domestic version (5% one-time penalty) usually remains available.
What does "non-willful" actually mean — and am I willful?
Non-willful conduct is conduct due to negligence, inadvertence, or mistake, or a good-faith misunderstanding of the law. Most people in this situation — you didn't know U.S. citizens must file from abroad, your preparer never asked about foreign accounts, you assumed taxes paid in your country of residence covered it — are non-willful. Willfulness involves knowing about the obligation and deliberately hiding the accounts. If your facts show willfulness indicators, the Streamlined Procedures are the wrong program, and you'll be told plainly that you need a tax attorney before anything is filed.
Is this confidential?
Yes. Your inquiry and everything you share is treated as confidential client information under professional standards, and a limited federal tax-practitioner privilege (IRC §7525) applies to tax advice in non-criminal matters. Honest caveat most firms won't give you: that privilege is narrower than attorney-client privilege and does not cover criminal matters — which is precisely why cases with willfulness indicators get referred to counsel rather than filed. For the non-willful cases the Streamlined Procedures are designed for, this structure protects you fully.
Will filing streamlined trigger an audit?
Streamlined submissions are not automatically audited — that's part of the program's design. They can be selected for examination under the same rules as any return, which is why the certification statement and penalty computation must be done precisely: a well-prepared submission gives an examiner nothing to pull on. What genuinely elevates risk is the alternative — waiting until a foreign bank reports your account under FATCA and the IRS writes to you first, at which point the Streamlined door closes.
I haven't filed U.S. returns in years — or ever. Can this still work?
Yes — this is the situation the Foreign procedures were built for. Unlike the Domestic version, SFOP accepts original, never-filed returns, not just amendments. Many long-term expats simply never knew that U.S. citizens must file from abroad; three years of returns and six years of FBARs bring you fully current, with the certification explaining the non-willful cause. Never having filed is not a disqualifier — it's the standard fact pattern.
Will I actually owe U.S. tax?
Often less than people fear. If you pay income tax in the country where you live, the foreign earned income exclusion and foreign tax credit typically offset much or all of the U.S. tax on the same income — many expat filers owe little or nothing beyond the cost of preparing the returns. What you owe, if anything, is tax and interest on what was actually due; qualifying SFOP filers pay no offshore penalty on top. The written analysis quantifies this for your numbers before you commit to anything.
What if I can't get old bank statements?
Common, and workable. Foreign banks often provide historical statements on request (sometimes for a fee), and where records are genuinely unavailable, the law permits reasonable, good-faith estimates of account values with documentation of the effort made. Reconstructing balances from partial records is routine work in these engagements — imperfect records are not a reason to stay non-compliant.
How does this work from abroad — and how long does it take?
Everything is handled remotely: secure document upload, e-signatures, and calls scheduled around your time zone. Typically 6–10 weeks from engagement to filing, driven mostly by how quickly foreign records arrive. The case review happens within days of your inquiry, the written analysis within about a week of the review. Once filed, any tax and interest due accompany the submission and the matter is generally concluded unless the IRS raises questions — most filers never hear anything further.

Request a confidential case review.

A free 15-minute introductory call with Tajma — she'll tell you whether the Streamlined Procedures fit your situation and exactly what fixing it would involve. No documents needed. No judgment about how long it's been.

Prefer to talk it through? Book your free, confidential 15-minute introductory call — pick a time that works for you, any time zone.

Everything you submit is confidential and reviewed only by Tajma. Nothing is filed, reported, or shared — this is an assessment, not a disclosure.

Confidential. Reviewed personally by Tajma Qorri. Same-day response on business days.

Book a Confidential Call Confidential Case Review