01/29/2018
Living abroad can be an exciting adventure, filled with new cultures, experiences, and stories to tell to your grandkids. But when tax season rolls around, that excitement can quickly turn into a cold sweat. US expats face unique tax filing challenges, and navigating the complexities on your own can feel like deciphering ancient hieroglyphics, which […]
01/25/2018
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was signed into law in 2010 with the aim of cracking down on tax evasion to increase tax revenue following the financial crisis. FATCA contained two important measures that affect expats, a reporting requirement for expats who have financial assets abroad, and a reporting requirement for foreign banks […]
01/22/2018
It’s tax time again, and many expats are discovering for the first time that Americans living abroad have to file a US tax return too, just as if they were living Stateside, reporting their worldwide income. Americans who have been living abroad but haven’t been filing need to catch up to avoid possible penalties. Most […]
01/18/2018
Paris is a premier destination for US expats in Europe, thanks to its world-class architecture, history, culture and cuisine.The US and France have long historical ties too, as the Statue of Liberty bears witness to.US expats living in Paris find themselves having to file both US taxes as a US citizen, and French taxes as a French […]
01/15/2018
The Bright!Tax Awards Committee announced last week that Adeel Mufti is the latest recipient of the Bright!Tax Global Scholar award. The Bright!Tax Global Scholar Award offers supplementary tuition fees support to exceptional young Americans who wish to study overseas. Adeel fought off over 300 other applicants in this Award round. The Bright!Tax Awards Committee […]
01/15/2018
All American citizens, even if living abroad, must file taxes. But between currency conversions, new tax breaks, and changes in reporting obligations, expat taxes can get complicated. As such, many US expats turn to tax professionals for assistance. But there are differences between tax professionals, like an expat tax professional who specializes in tax preparation […]
01/11/2018
Americans who live abroad are still required to file a US tax return, reporting their worldwide income. Expats can claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and/or the Foreign Housing Exclusion however, which allow them to pay less (or in many cases no) US tax (although they still have to file a US return to claim […]
01/08/2018
Americans living abroad are required to file a US tax return the same as if they lived in the US, reporting their worldwide income. Fortunately, there are several IRS exemptions such as the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Foreign Tax Credit that they can claim that prevent most expats from paying US tax (although […]
01/04/2018
Donald Trump ran for president on a promise to reduce tax rates and simplify the tax code. Now that the final tax reform bill has been signed into law, we can assess whether he has achieved his aims, as well as the impact of the changes for Americans living abroad. Very generally speaking, many expats […]
01/01/2018
Happy new year from the Team at Bright!Tax! 2017 was the year we were recognized as being the best US expat tax services provider, winning 4 Global EMMA awards, including Tax Provider of the Year in the Americas and Asia Pacific Regions, runner-up in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and runner up in the […]