01/21/2021
The IRS has announced that the date it will start accepting tax returns this year will be February 12. Tax season normally starts the second half of January, and February 12 will be the latest date that a tax season has started yet. The IRS said in a statement on January 15 that the late start […]
12/31/2020
In this article, we’ll look at what is meant by a US Person for US tax purposes. Many US tax rules are applied to all ‘US Persons’, so it’s an important concept to grasp, however the definition is wider than many people assume. US persons can be divided into several categories, covering different types of […]
12/10/2020
Over nine million Americans live overseas, and those whose global income exceeds IRS minimum thresholds have to file a US tax return. This filing requirement applied even if they also have to file foreign taxes or if the US has signed a tax treaty with their country of residence. This is because the US taxes […]
11/23/2020
It’s an unusual year in multiple ways, and this is also true when it comes to 2020 year-end tax planning. Both the Coronavirus pandemic and the presidential election will affect year-end tax planning for some expats this year. While the pandemic has affected the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion rules, tax changes next year due to […]
11/16/2020
It has been widely reported recently that a record number of Americans have renounced their US citizenship this year. Other publications have pointed out that the renunciation process involves an interview at a consulate or embassy, and that most have been closed this year due to Covid, so that the record numbers must represent the clearing of […]
11/12/2020
American citizens (and Green Card holders) who live abroad are required to file US taxes annually, reporting their worldwide income. This requirement to file from abroad is because the US taxes based on citizenship, rather than on residence like the majority of other countries. Expats also often have other filing requirements that Americans living in […]
11/05/2020
Americans living abroad are required to file a US tax return every year, reporting all of their global income. No other developed nation requires expats to file in this way. American expats often have to file a foreign return too, and understand how the two different tax systems converge. Furthermore, expats are subject to additional […]
11/02/2020
The IRS has announced federal Tax Rates and Brackets, the Standard Deduction amounts, and the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion threshold for US expats for tax year 2021 (so for filing in 2022). The figures for tax year 2020, for filing in 2021, were announced a year ago. The 2021 figures may still change, however, if […]
10/22/2020
American expatriate tax laws are unusual, in that they apply to all Americans citizens around the world, rather than just US residents. US expatriate tax laws can be divided into two categories: laws relating to tax filing and financial reporting requirements for Americans living abroad, and laws relating to Americans renouncing their US citizenship. US […]
10/01/2020
This year, while the world has been preoccupied with the Coronavirus pandemic, the IRS has also been quietly increasing its focus on enforcement of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies holders. The IRS sees virtual currencies as an area of potential tax avoidance. In 2019, for the first time in five years (during which time the profile […]