09/28/2026
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 […]
09/27/2026
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 […]
09/25/2026
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 […]
09/16/2026
A tax treaty can help prevent the same income from being taxed twice. But if you use one to change how U.S. tax law applies to you, you may need to disclose that claim to the IRS on Form 8833. Not every treaty benefit requires the form. Here’s how to determine whether yours does, which […]
09/15/2026
Wondering who exactly needs to file this form, how to do it, and why it matters? We’ll answer all of these questions and more below.
09/08/2026
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 […]
09/08/2026
If you’re a U.S. citizen who owns a company abroad, its profits can affect your U.S. tax return—even when the business operates entirely overseas and hasn’t paid you a dividend. That’s because the United States has special rules for foreign companies largely owned by U.S. shareholders. Congress changed these controlled foreign corporation rules in 2025, […]
09/04/2026
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 […]
09/04/2026
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 […]
08/17/2026
Most retirement decisions are made from thousands of miles away. This includes where to live, how you’ll access healthcare, and which residency rules you’ll need to navigate. For Americans planning to retire outside the U.S., that distance can make it difficult to properly evaluate a country and determine if it’s actually practical to live in. […]