TaxAct vs TurboTax for US Expats (2026): Price, Form 2555 and the FBAR Gap

Short answer: the main difference for an American abroad is price transparency vs polish. TaxAct Premier lists a flat $99.99 federal (June 2026) and confirms Form 2555 support in writing; TurboTax needs Deluxe or higher for Form 2555 and prices dynamically (~$49–$129 federal + ~$39/state at checkout) but has the smoother interview and imports. The expat-specific tie-breaker: neither files your FBAR, and neither documents handling a non-resident-alien spouse — if either applies to you, an expat specialist is the better tool.

Which is better for an expat return?

TaxAct if you want a known price for the forms; TurboTax if you want the friendliest path to the same forms. Both support the three IRS forms that carry an expat return — Form 2555, Form 1116 and Form 8938 — in their paid tiers, per their own support pages. The real decision is cost certainty versus interview polish.

The forms themselves: Form 2555 claims the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, Form 1116 the Foreign Tax Credit, and Form 8938 the FATCA disclosure. What separates the two products is everything that lives outside the IRS pipeline — starting with the FBAR.

TaxAct vs TurboTax for Americans abroad (June 2026)

The forms are a tie. The price is TaxAct's to lose, the experience is TurboTax's to lose — and the FBAR is both products' blind spot.

What does a typical expat filing really cost with each?

Add the state return and the FBAR before comparing. A common case — one federal return with Form 2555, one sticky-state return, FBAR due because your visa deposit crossed $10,000:

What about the FBAR neither can file?

It's a FinCEN filing, not an IRS one — and skipping it is the expensive mistake. If your foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 combined at any moment of the year, you owe a FinCEN Form 114, due April 15 and auto-extended to October 15. Neither TaxAct nor TurboTax touches it, and the non-willful penalty runs up to $16,536 per violation.

The fix costs nothing: filing directly on the BSA e-filing system is free and takes about 20 minutes once you have each account's maximum balance for the year. Full walkthrough in our expat tax guide.

When should you skip both?

Skip both when your return has any of the four expat complications below — they're exactly where mainstream software breaks, and where the specialist products and human-prepared services earn their fee instead of costing you refunds or penalties:

• NRA spouse, no SSN: neither vendor documents the "MFS with non-resident-alien spouse" workflow — MyExpatTaxes confirms it; the human-prepared services handle it routinely.
• Years behind: streamlined-procedure catch-ups are specialist work (MyExpatTaxes $875, Taxes for Expats $1,450).
• Self-employed abroad: the 15.3% SE-tax/totalization question decides more money than the software fee — see the Tax Burden Index.
• You just want it done: human-prepared flat fees run $450 (TFX) to $565 (Greenback), FBAR add-ons $85–$125.

Disclosure: we have no affiliate relationship with TaxAct, Intuit/TurboTax or any product linked on this page — no link here pays us. Verification per our disclosure policy.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

Sources

• TaxAct: FEIE support documentation · Premier pricing
• Intuit/TurboTax: Form 2555 tier support · online pricing
• IRS: Form 2555 · Form 1116 · FinCEN: FBAR · BSA e-filing