09/28/2017
Americans are almost unique in still having to file home country taxes from overseas. While this requirement has been US law since the Civil War, the interconnectedness of today’s global banking and tax systems have only recently allowed the IRS enforce it. They can even revoke expats’ US passports if they believe that they owe […]
09/11/2017
Imagine this: you’re living your dream life abroad, soaking up a new culture. But then tax season rolls around, and suddenly, you’re hit with a double whammy – filing taxes in your new country AND back in the US. Overwhelming, right? Well, we’ve been there — and that equipped us with enough experience to put […]
09/04/2017
Inpats, or inpatriates, are foreigners who have been transferred to work in the United States. So in a sense, inpats are also (from the perspective of their country of origin) expats. As individuals working in the States, inpats normally become subject to the US taxation system. This is probably the first time they’ll encounter the […]
08/31/2017
All Americans are required to file US taxes and report their worldwide income, wherever in the world they live. Thankfully there are a number of IRS exemptions that can be claimed to reduce or eliminate US tax liability for expats, however even if no US tax is owed, expats still have to file an annual […]
08/28/2017
The USA is almost unique in taxing US citizens even when they live abroad. This means that expats who earn over $10,000 ($10,300 for 2016, to be precise, or just $400 of self-employment income) are required to file a US federal tax return, regardless of where their income originates, or whether they are also paying […]
08/17/2017
Many Americans own property in the US when they move abroad, and so are faced with the question of whether to sell or rent it. How to answer this question often depends on whether they are moving abroad temporarily or permanently: if they are moving overseas temporarily, if may make more sense to rent it, […]
08/07/2017
What is an ITIN? ITIN is an acronym for ‘Individual Taxpayer Identification Number’. An ITIN is a 9 digit number that always begins with a 9 that is issued by the IRS that allows individuals who are not eligible for or who don’t have a social security number to file a US tax return. Before […]
06/29/2017
Expats are America’s global front-line ambassadors. Everyday, their actions and attitudes help shape others’ perceptions of the US and Americans. They are also the 21st century pioneers, forging opportunities and lives away from our shores and in the wider world. However far from the US they venture though, they remain in the strange situation of […]
06/26/2017
With FATCA and a raft of intergovernmental tax information exchange agreements allowing Uncle Sam to know more about expats’ finances than ever before, a growing number of expats are choosing to become compliant by using the Streamlined Procedure IRS amnesty program. Since it was introduced in 2014, nearly 50,000 US expats have used the Streamnlined […]
06/15/2017
Do I still have to file and pay US taxes if I live abroad? This is the most common tax question that US expats ask. Unfortunately, the US tax system is based on citizenship rather than residence, so it doesn’t discriminate where in the world you live. As a result, expats have to file and […]