Tax Rules and Compliance

If you failed to report foreign income or accounts because you genuinely misunderstood the rules, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures can give you a way to catch up with reduced penalties—or no offshore penalties at all if you qualify for the foreign procedure. At Bright!Tax, we regularly hear from Americans who have lived abroad for […]

If you live in the U.S. and previously filed tax returns without reporting foreign income or financial assets, the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures may let you correct the problem with a single 5% penalty. You must meet the IRS eligibility rules, certify that your conduct was non-willful and submit three years of amended returns plus […]

FATCA exemptions can remove certain foreign accounts and assets from your reporting requirements, saving you from filing paperwork you don’t actually need. Whether one applies depends on what you hold, where it’s held and how the account or institution is classified. The tricky part—and something we regularly untangle with our clients at Bright!Tax—is that FATCA […]

Missed the October 15 tax deadline? You haven’t missed your chance to file. The IRS still accepts late returns, and the sooner you submit yours, the less expensive the delay may be. You should still file even if you can’t pay your full tax bill. Filing and paying are separate, and waiting until you can […]

October 15, 2026, is the filing deadline for many Americans abroad who requested extra time to submit their 2025 U.S. tax return. If that includes you, there’s still time to get everything in order. One thing to know upfront: an extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay. Here’s what’s due […]

If you’ve filed and paid your U.S. taxes on time for the past three years but slip up once, the IRS may now waive certain penalties automatically. The change comes from a new program called Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP), announced in July 2026. Starting with eligible 2025 tax returns, the IRS will check whether […]

Extra income sounds like a win until you start wondering how much of it the IRS will keep. A raise, bonus, freelance project, or overseas income can all change the rate that applies to your highest dollars. That is where marginal tax rates come into play. Your marginal tax rate is the rate applied to […]

Americans abroad often pay tax where they live and still have to file with the IRS. The Foreign Tax Credit exists for that overlap. It can reduce your U.S. tax bill when you’ve paid eligible income tax to another country, making it especially useful for expats in higher-tax countries. But it isn’t a blanket credit […]

Two Americans abroad can earn the same income and still need different tax strategies. One may save more with the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, which excludes qualifying foreign earnings from taxable income. The other may do better with the Foreign Tax Credit, which reduces U.S. tax based on eligible foreign taxes paid. For 2026, the […]