crossborder tax software recommendations?

[FLBiker]

My wife and I are both dual citizens (US and CAN), living in Canada.  Most of our assets are in the US (as we were US citizens living in the US until ~4 years ago) -- we have 403b, 457bs and Roth IRAs.  I'm pretty informed about crossborder tax stuff (avoid PFICs, fill out T1135, etc.) but we've paid for tax prep services since we moved (I always DIYed in the US).  I'm thinking about switching back to DIY, initially for the Canadian portion of our tax returns.  I'd like recommendations as far as which software to use.

Ideally, I'm looking for:
- A tool that is well suited to Canadians (or dual citizens) with US assets
- A tool that offers good quality human review and assistance (as I'd like to pay for this for the first year or two)
- A tool that includes the ability to create null T3 returns (for the trusts we have as part of our US estate plans)

I did our Canadian returns using TurboTax this year (in parallel with our CPA) and it seemed decent, although I'm not sure I can do the T3s with it.  Any advice on tools that would suit me is appreciated, and if any additional info would be helpful please don't hesitate to ask.

Oh, and I also wanted to ask -- do you think I'd be increasing my audit risk by DIYing as opposed to hiring a professional?  I don't do anything crazy on my taxes -- I deduct some WFH expenses and have US holdings, but that's about it.  Thanks!

[AMandM]

This is not a recommendation, because I haven't used it, but it might be what you're looking for. H&R Block has an expat division, with choices including DIY online filing and having a pro for advice  or to do the work for you:
https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/expat-tax-preparation-and-services/

I would not pay to have them file the FBAR, because you can easily do that yourself for free at https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/NoRegFBARFiler.html

[FLBiker]

Thanks!  I've looked at this tool, and I think it would be useful, but it's for the US taxes (as I understand it).  I'm looking for something for the Canadian side of it.  I do think, though, that I'll use this H&R Block service for my US taxes.  And thanks for the tip about filing my FBARs for free!

[erp]

On that Canadian tax side I've been using Studiotax for a few years. You can download it for free and only pay to file, so you can try to figure out whether it does what you like without coughing up any money.

They're a software type firm though, so they don't provide any audit services. For this year, you might be looking at something like H&R block, but there are almost certainly cheaper/more expert options available in the longer term.

[AMandM]

H&R Block does Canadian taxes, too: https://www.hrblock.ca/

[FLBiker]

H&R Block does Canadian taxes, too: https://www.hrblock.ca/

Oh that's interesting -- I wonder if it's possible to coordinate the Canadian tax version w/ the US expat version, so that a human assistant would be able to view both.  I'll reach out to them and see.  Thanks!

[MustacheAndaHalf]

I switched to an H&R Block competitor when they wouldn't let me file taxes with a foreign address, owing to a software bug.  I could enter my phone number, which they required, but when I switched to a foreign address they cleared the required phone number.  I could file taxes with a foreign address, which seems like the simplest thing they could test if they cared about expats.  When the same bug appeared two years in a row, I figured they don't care about expats and went with a competing tax software company.  YMMV ...

[FLBiker]

I switched to an H&R Block competitor when they wouldn't let me file taxes with a foreign address, owing to a software bug.  I could enter my phone number, which they required, but when I switched to a foreign address they cleared the required phone number.  I could file taxes with a foreign address, which seems like the simplest thing they could test if they cared about expats.  When the same bug appeared two years in a row, I figured they don't care about expats and went with a competing tax software company.  YMMV ...

Interesting, thanks!  Can I ask which one you switched to?

[MustacheAndaHalf]

I wound up with Intuit's TurboTax to avoid the foreign address problems.

In the past few years I've had a lot of active investing, which meant lots of trades.  I don't want to type hundreds of trades into tax software, so automatic import was very important to me.  That may not be a consideration for others, but it was the primary factor in which tax software I picked.

[FLBiker]

I wound up with Intuit's TurboTax to avoid the foreign address problems.

In the past few years I've had a lot of active investing, which meant lots of trades.  I don't want to type hundreds of trades into tax software, so automatic import was very important to me.  That may not be a consideration for others, but it was the primary factor in which tax software I picked.

Excellent, thanks!