Making Sense of the Options Available For U.S. Taxpayers with Undisclosed Foreign Financial Assets

Last week the Internal Revenue Service announced some major changes in its offshore voluntary compliance programs, providing new options to help both U.S. taxpayers residing overseas and those residing in the United States. The changes should provide thousands of people with new ways to come into compliance with their U.S. tax obligations. The changes include…

Stressed and Confused

Anxiety is not a fun emotion to have. But let’s admit it, we’ve all been there. Think back to taking that difficult exam in college or waiting for medical test results to come back from the lab. Maybe you felt stressed at work before giving a presentation. Or maybe your anxiety came about from being…

Foreign Income Exclusion

Let’s Talk About the Foreign Income Exclusion!   We are often asked questions regarding the foreign income exclusion and what type of income can be excluded.  As the name of the benefit applies, “earned income” is excluded…but the IRS definition may be very different from what you may assume. First, in order to qualify for…

Voluntary Disclosure Program

THE ‘STEAMLINED’ PROGRAM BASICS   In October 2012, the foreign friendlier IRS made filing “old” returns a whole lot easier by initiating “the streamlined” voluntary disclosure program.  If you are one of the many expats who owe no tax (or very little, like under $1,500 per year) and had no clue that there was a…

Foreign Housing

Foreign Housing There are two different aspects related to foreign housing:  deductions and exclusions, although they do have similar tax implications. The main difference between the two is that the exclusion must be employer-provided while the deduction requires the taxpayer to have self-employment income.   Foreign Housing Deductions For the foreign housing deduction it only…