Weathering the Storm of FATCA

The government is trillions of dollars in debt and raising taxes is never a very popular option for politicians… but going after taxes that should have been paid, but weren’t? That rarely loses Congress a vote, and so today’s expats are the new white whale of the IRS. Specifically, the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance…

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…

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…

Non-Resident Alien Spouse

What to Do Tax-Wise With A Non-Resident Alien Spouse? For most, it sure is convenient to file separately from your non-resident alien spouse. If you absolutely want to file a joint return for green card application purposes, you will have to complete a form W-7. This form is an application for an ID# that will…

What Do You Know About FATCA?

What Do You Know About FATCA? Well, the IRS is up to their tricks again, making life a little more difficult on our expat citizens. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is designed to improve tax compliance regarding offshore bank accounts. An interesting statistic…of the 7.2 billion expats, the US Department of Treasury has only…