IRS Streamlined Procedure For Expats

The Streamlined Procedure and the OVDP (Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program) are both IRS amnesty programs that allow American taxpayers who are behind with their US tax filing to catch up. They are very different though, and once you have filed using one, you can’t change your mind and use the other, and using the wrong […]

America is unique among advanced economies in having a taxation system based on citizenship rather than on residence. This means that all US citizens (and green holders) have to file a US tax return and pay US taxes on their worldwide income wherever in the world they live. To many people this seems counter-intuitive, unfair […]

Of the estimated 9 million Americans living overseas, just 1.1 million of them filed a US tax return last year. As the US taxes based on citizenship, whether Americans live in the US or abroad doesn’t matter: if your income exceeds around $10,000 (or just $400 of self-employment income), you are required to file a […]

All Americans who earn over around $12,400 (in 2020, or just $400 of self-employment income, or just $5 for Americans married filing separately from a foreigner) are required to file a US federal tax return each year, no matter where in the world they live or where their income was sourced. This means that the […]

The IRS re-introduced the Streamlined Procedure amnesty program in 2014 to help the millions of Americans living abroad who weren’t currently up to date with their US tax filing catch up without facing penalties. All US expats are required to file a federal tax return each year declaring their worldwide income, regardless of where in […]

All Americans who earn over $10,000 (or just $400 of self-employment income) have to file a US tax return every year, wherever in the world they live or earn. Many Americans living abroad aren’t aware of this though, so they aren’t up to date with their tax filing. Thankfully, for American expats who haven’t filed […]

US expat taxation and FBAR The US is the only developed nation that taxes based on citizenship rather than residence. This means that US citizens (and green card holders) who earn over $10,000 (or just $400 of self-employment income) are still liable to pay US taxes if they live abroad, including on any foreign earned […]

Living abroad can be the adventure of a lifetime. It takes courage, perseverance, and an ability to adapt and hopefully thrive in a foreign land far away from home. In other words, the same attributes that we honor in the early American pioneers. Living abroad also brings with it an extra, burdensome set of tax […]

US expats have been the unintentional victims of an IRS drive targeting offshore tax avoidance for several years now, however the penalties for non-disclosure of foreign income and assets remain harsh, and the IRS is showing no signs of easing off. There are thought to be millions of Americans living abroad who are behind with […]

Until around a year ago, many honest, law-abiding US expats felt a real disincentive to file their historic tax returns as a result of pending and serious IRS penalties. Another large group of expats believed that as they didn’t owe taxes in the US, having paid higher tax rates abroad, they didn’t have to file […]