Tax Rules and Compliance

Over nine million US citizens are living abroad, including US military and diplomatic staff. According to US law, all of them who meet minimum IRS income requirements have to file a US tax return every year, reporting their worldwide income. Neither international tax treaties, nor where their income is sourced, nor whether US citizens living […]

Dual citizens, or dual nationals, are citizens of two different countries. Dual citizenship was prohibited in most countries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however the United States has allowed Americans to be dual citizens since 1967. Dual nationality is most often acquired either through parentage, or through naturalization (obtaining a second citizenship through […]

According to the IRS, round a million Americans are living abroad and not filing US taxes. (Would it help us to cite your source?) The requirement for Americans living abroad having to file US taxes on their global income was introduced way back during the Civil War, however it’s only in the last few years […]

A gift to a foreign spouse (a Nonresident Alien or NRA spouse in IRS speak), can be an effective strategy for Americans living abroad to reduce their US tax bill. Americans living abroad married to a foreign spouse are required to file US taxes on their global income every year. This is true of all […]

All Americans have to file US taxes, reporting their global income, including Americans living abroad. Many Americans who live abroad (as well as many living in the US) own foreign real estate, and they often wonder whether it needs reporting on their American tax return, and if so how. All Americans who have certain foreign […]

Over 9 million Americans live overseas, and every year the number is growing. Every year however, many Americans move back to the US, too. All American citizens are required to file US taxes, reporting their global income, including Americans living overseas. What happens when Americans move back to the US mid-year though? In this article we […]

On 31st December 2020, the IRS quietly dropped a Bitcoin bombshell as it released a statement saying that it intended to add virtual currency accounts as a reportable account under FBAR rules. The statement read: “FinCEN intends to propose to amend the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regarding reports of foreign financial accounts […]

This article was contributed by David Tompkins at Expat Financial. David is an expert in sourcing global health insurance plans for multinationals and individual expats around the globe. Most Americans realize the importance of buying medical insurance in the United States, but what about health insurance when you move abroad? It is unlikely that your […]

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 […]

If you’re a non-US national who lives or works in the US part-time, or if you have US-source income, you may very well need to file a US nonresident alien (“NRA”) income tax return. Filing this return correctly and on time is essential — otherwise, you may face significant fines and penalties. The US tax […]