Can I Request a Personal Extension Myself?

Hi guys,

I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed (again) by my US tax obligations... having recently completed the streamlined foreign offshore procedure, my next tax return is due in 3 days and I need to request an extension. The company that I went with for my offshore procedure can do it but there is a $50 retainer and I need to possibly find somewhere cheaper to do my 2022 return as I'm already pretty skint and it's destroying me financially.

Is requesting an extension an easy thing to do myself? I don't want to mess anything up so would rather pay if it's complicated.

Second question, does anyone have any recommendations of where I can go for help with my 2022 tax return prep? I am struggling as have money invested in 13 funds and the company I went with charged £75 per fund to do the forms... which basically makes it pointless having funds as I'm not making that much with them. I'm not confident I could do such a thing myself? I panicked and sold all my funds before Christmas  so that I didn't have to worry about it for 2023 return but am now stuck with a pot of money not growing and no idea what to do with it or how to invest and make money without it all being taken again during tax prep.

It all really makes me not want to be American anymore 

You can file for an extension yourself online easily enough but you need to get a move on.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/how-to-get-tax-extension-online

How to file a tax extension
Submit Form 4868 to the IRS either electronically or via mail by the tax-filing deadline. If you pay the IRS an estimate of your taxes owed by tax day using either your debit/credit card, IRS Direct Pay, or the EFTPS system, noting that your payment is for an extension, you can skip the paperwork altogether.
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Here are a few other common ways to file a tax extension:
IRS Free File: The IRS partners with a nonprofit organization called the Free File Alliance to provide people who make less than $73,000 of adjusted gross income access to free, name-brand tax-prep software. Anybody — even people above the income threshold — can go there to file an extension online.
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Tax software: If you're planning to use tax software, most providers support filing Form 4868 for tax extensions. You can simply follow the program’s instructions and see how to file a tax extension electronically that way. The IRS will send you an electronic acknowledgment when you submit the form.
Tax preparer: If you plan to work with a tax pro or a tax preparer, ask to see if they can file for an extension on your behalf.
By mail: You can apply for a tax extension on paper by filling out Form 4868 and sending it to the IRS via snail mail. Make sure to get proof that you mailed it, though.

Thanks for your reply. I managed to do it using My expat taxes.

I am still at such a loss what to do moving forward though. I have zero knowledge of US taxes, I never lived there as an adult. I'm self-employed and have a low income, some funds, a few shares, and no foreign assets. Where does one go to learn about tax returns? It seems so overwhelming but I just can't afford to pay the massive amount of money for an accountant to do everything for me year after year. I'm just terrified I'll do something wrong and get myself into trouble!

Are these websites (like My expat taxes) that offer tax software to help you do it yourself easy to follow? I'm not lacking in brain cells, I have a science degree and am pretty with it generally but have very little free time or headspace 

Any advice very welcome, I need to figure this out asap and get learning I guess.

I have filed our tax returns from the UK  for the past 14 years with only a couple of issues.
We hired a tax attorney company in 2021 based in the US to deal with the lump sum from my UK pension (tax free in the UK), but other than that, it is, for us reasonably easy. There are examples of the foreign based income form (form 2555) and others, and how to complete them are available online - Google is your friend! Make sure you put 365 days in part V11  line 38 - I made a mistake before and left it blank so it didn't show the exclusion!
The problem we have run into this year is that we can't find any free software as we don't have a US phone number which is used for verification, so it looks like we will have to use a company - the cheapest I've found is $119 which is expatfile - good Trustpilot reviews but haven't used it yet so can't give any personal opinion whether it is east to use.
Good luck!