09/03/2020
The Foreign Bank Account Report (known as FBAR) obliges all US citizens and green card holders with foreign bank accounts that contain a total between them of at least US$10,000 at any time throughout the tax year to file a form (114) to the IRS. At the end of last month, President Obama signed into […]
07/22/2020
Every three months, the state department publishes how many people renounced their citizenship in that quarter. The most recent figure is 1426, which is a new record. To put that into context, in 2008, just 235 people renounced their US citizenship in the whole year. The number has been steadily rising since, with last year […]
02/24/2024
Hidden deep within the proposed 2016 Federal Budget is a clause that seeks to bring some relief to so-called Accidental Americans. Accidental Americans are people who don’t know that they are American citizens, or who didn’t know before adulthood. They typically fall into one of two groups: people who were born in the US to […]
01/24/2025
It’s easy to understand why so many Americans choose to live, work, or retire in Mexico. If anything, it’s hard not to envy them. Mexico’s beaches, Spanish colonial cities, climate, delicious cuisine, and friendly people make for an incredible combination. Americans living in Mexico are still liable to file an annual federal tax return […]
01/19/2021
US citizens and green card holders living abroad are required to report their worldwide income to the IRS. They may also have to pay foreign income tax in their country of residence. Paying the full rate of tax on the same income to two different countries is called double taxation. The Foreign Tax Credit is […]
10/26/2020
US citizens and green card holders who live and work outside the US may be able to exclude part or all of their foreign earned income (both wages and income from self-employment) from US tax using the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE). To qualify for the FEIE, a person needs to both work and live […]
09/03/2020
If you have a bank account anywhere outside the US, starting in 2015, chances are you will receive a letter saying that your bank must hand over the details of any American accounts, including yours. The letters vary with the country and with individual institutions. But the overall message is that the IRS is about […]
01/29/2025
American expats can live incredible lives, and often have incredible stories to tell. Kristen Evelyn Rossi is a jazz singer on a mission to spread the Golden Age of Broadway / Jazz throughout Asia. The following is an excerpt from ‘Falling in Love at the Metropole Hanoi’ in Global Living Magazine. Born on Long Island, […]
09/03/2020
“FATCA was created in part because of the fear of the United States government that the globalization of finance would give far more people the opportunity to hide their money. It was becoming very clear that it wasn’t going to be just the very wealthy, but that it could really be the middle class and […]
09/05/2020
Robert W. Wood – The number of Americans renouncing United States citizenship or terminating long-term residency is on a record pace. Every 3 months, the government publishes the names of individuals who renounced U.S. citizenship or gave up a green card. This public outing puts Americans on notice who relinquished their rights. For January to […]