Expat Tax Forms

Living abroad can reset almost everything—your time zone, your grocery list, even your definition of “good coffee.” What it doesn’t reset? Your obligation to file a U.S. tax return. For expats, the real prize is tax relief through the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) or Foreign Housing Exclusion. But to qualify, you need to show […]

You know that foreign pension you barely remember signing up for? Or the joint account you opened just to pay rent abroad? Yeah—the IRS wants to talk about it. Officially called the Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, form 8938 is how the U.S. keeps tabs on Americans with money overseas. If you’re a U.S. […]

A capital gain is the increase of the value of an asset that you realize when that asset is sold. Capital gains (and losses) are reported on Form 1040 Schedule D; however the calculations to arrive at the capital gain or loss are reported on IRS Form 8949.

If your U.S. business has foreign ownership, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) isn’t just curious—it requires you to spill the details on Form 5472. Think of it as the agency’s way of making sure international businesses aren’t skirting U.S. tax laws. This form is mandatory for foreign-owned U.S. corporations and disregarded entities that engage in reportable transactions with a foreign related party—a broad category that includes everything […]

If you have a stake in a foreign partnership, you might have a new tax form on your hands: Form 8865. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires certain U.S. citizens with foreign partnership interests to report their share of income, losses, and transactions. While it might not be the most exciting part of managing a business abroad, filing correctly is essential—missing it can […]

In the world of IRS paperwork, Form 8832 is small but mighty. It’s just two pages long, yet it decides how your business will be taxed—and that choice can make a serious difference to your tax return, your tax rates, and your bottom line. You might file it when launching a new business, reshaping your […]

If you’re a U.S. citizen living abroad and investing locally, there’s a decent chance the IRS has its eye on your portfolio—even if you’ve never heard of a PFIC. PFICs, or Passive Foreign Investment Companies, sound like something you’d only encounter in a finance textbook. In reality, they include many common investment vehicles like non-U.S. […]

Got a stake in a company outside the U.S.? Then Form 8992 is about to become your new paperwork frenemy. This IRS form is what U.S. shareholders use to report certain types of foreign business income—especially if you own part of a Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC). I f you’re a business owner, part of a […]

Form 5471, which the IRS calls “Information Return of US Persons With Respect To Certain Foreign Corporations”, is an informational return that US taxpayers with shares in a foreign corporation must file. Whether you need to file Form 5471 depends on the percentage of stock you own in a foreign corporation. 

Big gifts come with a little fine print. If you give more than the annual exclusion to any one person in a year (or make another reportable transfer), Form 709 is the paperwork that keeps score. Here’s the surprise: filing the form doesn’t usually mean paying the federal gift tax. Instead, it’s more like keeping […]