Expatriate Taxes | TaxConnections

30 Jan 2020

How To Tell If You Are A Non Resident Alien, Resident Alien Or Dual Status Alien When Filing Your Tax Returns

How To Determine To File Tax Return As An Alien

The community of tax professionals on www.taxconnections.com offers great knowledge and expertise. We noticed one of our members Gary W Carter has this fun analyzer that does not ask you your name, maintains your anonymity and tells you whether you need to file as either a non resident alien, resident alien or dual status alien when filing a U.S. tax return.

I took the quick analyzer test myself, even though I am a U.S. citizen born and living here simply because I wanted to know the value for our worldwide visitors and readers of TaxConnections Blogs. If you have the same question regarding your filing status as an alien tax filer, you will appreciate this quick and private analyzer.

Click Here To Determine Your Alien Tax Filing Status.

You Remain Anonymous!

Written by Gary Carter | Posted in Expatriate Taxes • TaxConnections

23 Jul 2019

Get Professional Advice To Avoid Risk Of ‘A Boris’: U.S. Expatriates In U.K. Warned

Boris Johnson, the front-runner to succeed Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister this week, is well known to Londoners for myriad reasons, including having unofficially lent his name to a bicycle-sharing scheme (“Boris bikes”) that was launched in 2010, and with which he, a keen cyclist himself, was associated.

Less well known to many of his fellow Londoners is that he had a bitter and rather public battle with the U.S. IRS six years ago, when it sought to tax him on the sale of his London property, owing to the fact of his American citizenship, acquired at birth.

Below is an updated version of a story on his U.S. tax travails that we first ran last September. We thought it timely to revisit this issue now, because London property experts report that Americans currently account for a disproportionately large share of those currently shopping for – and buying – London properties, helped by a dollar that’s at near-record highs against the pound, and expected to strengthen further. At the same time, London property prices have been under pressure, with the average value of a London home reported recently to be down by 4.4% in the year to the end of May.

When British politician Boris Johnson renounced his citizenship in 2016, many observers speculated that he had finally been moved to do it after the seemingly ill-advised sale of his home in north London in 2009 saw him hit with a significant (said to be in the tens of thousands of pounds) capital gains tax payable to the U.S. government on his half of the profit from the sale.

Written by Helen Burggraf | Posted in Expatriate Taxes

11 Jul 2019

American Couple In France In Major Win Against IRS Over Tax

In a development that is being seen by American expat groups in France as a major win, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has admitted in a U.S. Tax Court that it had wrongly collected millions of dollars of tax from France-resident American citizens, ending a years-long legal saga that could see millions of dollars paid to U.S. expats who have lived in and been filing tax returns from France, in the form of refunds.

The matter, which is seen as changing an element of the way Americans resident in France are taxed by the U.S., could lead to thousands of the estimated 100,000 American citizens currently living in France claiming back up to US$100m from the U.S. government, according to London-based U.S. tax attorney Stuart Horwich of Horwich Law.

Horwich assisted Ory and Linda Eshel, the two France-resident U.S. taxpayers who mounted the legal case in question, in bringing their claim to court.

At issue is a court statement by the IRS, in a Washington, DC court, that it had finally accepted that U.S. citizens resident in France could deduct against their U.S. taxes certain previously disallowed taxes paid to France.

Written by Helen Burggraf | Posted in Expatriate Taxes • France

13 Jun 2019

Are You A U.S. Citizen Living Outside The United States?

John Dundon - Expatriate Filing Extension

International Taxpayers Extension Request is for US taxpayers residing outside of the USA. Your 2018 income tax forms are due June 17th 2019. That date is coming up here soon and it usually catches people off guard.

If this might be you, worry not… Simply File IRS Form 4868 for automatic extension of time to file US individual tax return.

Filing this form gives you an additional 4 months (until October 15th) to file your income tax forms. However you still must estimate what your federal income tax liability will be and get that payment into the US Treasury ASAP. That payment was actually due April 15th 2019.

If you live outside of the US you should not be penalized for late payment if you pay by June 15th, but you will be assessed interest for the late payment.

Written by John Dundon | Posted in Expatriate Taxes • Filing Extension

28 Mar 2019

U.S. Taxes On Foreign Income: Who Should File A U.S. Expatriate Tax Return?

Olivier Wagner- Filing An Expatriate Tax Return

While many Americans abroad wonder if they have to pay US taxes on foreign income, the real question is about filing tax return itself. Many of US citizens living overseas do not owe any taxes to IRS. However, it doesn’t mean they don’t have to report their income on Form 1040. Majority of US expats confuse the filing threshold with Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. The latter one doesn’t determine your filing liabilities. It is there to exclude all or part of your foreign-source wages and self-employment income from U.S. federal income tax. Yet you need to file federal tax return and form 2555 to use Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

There are a few things to remember about US tax filing obligations. First of all, determine if you are a U.S. person for tax purposes, as you do not necessarily need to have a US passport to possibly have US tax filing obligations. You may even need to file even if you don’t earn any money yet you are married to someone who has income. Yes, we know that US taxes can be quite complicated!

Tax Tip 1: Even though we have already mentioned FEIE above, don’t rush to select Foreign Earned Income Exclusion on your US expat tax return. In many cases, choosing Foreign Tax Credit is more beneficial. Tax professionals prefer the latter for a number of reasons.

Written by Olivier Wagner | Posted in Expatriate Taxes

15 Mar 2019

United States Dual Citizens Receive Punitive Tax

We bring your attention to the commentary on the post this week written by John Richardson of Citizenship Solutions in Toronto, Canada called “The United States Imposes A Separate And Much More Punitive Tax On U.S. Citizens Who Are Residents Of Other Countries”.

We appreciate the commentary to Johns post and ask our readers to add their own stories to educate the public of the impact of these laws have on dual citizens. The real financial impact is causing hardship and stress for many Americans who live and reside in other countries and have done so for years.

You can read the story and commentary at this link.

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Expatriate Taxes

05 Mar 2019

Expatriates Are Very Upset With The United States IRS: 120+ Comments Educate You Why

We continue to receive commentary on the article written by TaxConnections Member John Richardson of Citizenship Solutions. His blog post on USA Of The 21^st Century Is Like Britain In The 19^th Century has hit a nerve with many expatriates around the world. The blog post and the 120+ comments that follow explain what is happening to those who happened to be born here but do not live in the United States. There is more to learn that will leave you at the edge of your seats so stay tuned to this post.

Read this post that has 120+ comments and growing by the day and please forward to expatriates you know to add commentary.

https://www.taxconnections.com/taxblog/the-usa-of-the-21st-century-is-like-britain-in-the-19th-century/#.XH3XiKJKiJB

Please add your commentary below to continue to educate others on the consequences of United States FATCA tax laws on your life.

Written By TaxConnections CEO, Kat Jennings

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Expatriate Taxes • FATCA • Internal Revenue Code

01 Mar 2019

WOW! A Big Reaction To The Article Posted Yesterday Called “USA Of The 21st Century Is Like Britain In The 19th Century”

John Richardson About Americans Citizens Abroad

Yesterday, we posted an article called The USA Of The 21^st Century Is Like Britain In The 19^th Century written by John Richardson of Citizenship Solutions in Canada. John is an internationally recognized expert on the subject of dual citizenship and accidental Americans. The post created a significant amount of reaction and response which I want to bring to your attention today. It is important to understand the impact of U.S. tax laws and how they are affecting Americans who moved long ago to another country, or may have just been born here but do not reside in the United States.

It is a great article and the commentary continues to highlight the issues faced by many. You can read the article and the comments at this link:

https://www.taxconnections.com/taxblog/the-usa-of-the-21st-century-is-like-britain-in-the-19th-century/#.XHkuBqJKiJA

Your comments are welcome to continue enlightening the world.

Kat Jennings, CEO TaxConnections

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Expatriate Taxes • FATCA

26 Feb 2019

U.S. Expatriates Can Claim Foreign Tax Credit Filing Form 1116

What Is Form 1116 And Who Needs To File It?

When talking about US taxes and taxation of US citizens who live abroad, you may have heard of Foreign Tax Credit and the possibility to offset the US tax owing by using the taxes paid to another country. That way you can narrow the tax owing down to zero!

Most of the US international tax experts prefer claiming Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) on client’s U.S. tax return rather than preparing form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion), since it is more beneficial. Read further to learn why FTC is a better way to save money on your US expat taxes.

Here are 5 quick facts about IRS Form 1116 and US tax returns:

You claim Foreign Tax Credit on your US expat taxes by filing Form 1116
You attach this form to a Form 1040, your individual US tax return
The credit reduces your US tax liability on expat income dollar for dollar
You cannot take Foreign Tax Credit against income which you have previously excluded by the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
And you can’t receive a refund of foreign taxes paid through your US tax return

Written by Olivier Wagner | Posted in Expatriate Taxes • Foreign Tax Credits • Form 1116

16 Oct 2018

IRC Section 965 Transition Tax – Part 10

John-Richardson- Investigating the Transition Tax

Individuals Subject to U.S. State Tax Jurisdiction, the Response of New York State

This is the tenth in my series of posts about the Sec. 965 Transition Tax and whether/how it applies to the small business corporations owned by taxpaying residents of other countries (who may also have U.S. citizenship). These small business corporations are in no way “foreign”. They are certainly “local” to the resident of another country who just happens to have the misfortune of being a U.S. citizen.

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Expatriate Taxes

12 Oct 2018

IRC Section 965 Transition Tax – Part 9

From The “Pax Americana” To The “Tax Americana”

This is the ninth in my series of posts about the Sec. 965 Transition Tax and whether/how it applies to the small business corporations owned by taxpaying residents of other countries (who may also have U.S. citizenship). These small business corporations are in no way “foreign”. They are certainly “local” to the resident of another country who just happens to have the misfortune of being a U.S. citizen.

Introduction – The purpose of this post is …

to demonstrate that the “transition tax” is an example (particularly egregious) of the principle that (1) not only does the United States impose “worldwide taxation” on the “tax residents” of other countries, but (2) it imposes a separate tax regime on certain “tax residents” of other countries that is different and far more punitive than the regime imposed on Homeland Americans. Yes, you read correctly!

It is the “Tax Americana”– a “form” (no pun intended) of an “empire” which is colonizing other countries through taxation.

A recent and most important example of the “Tax Americana” is the “transition tax” : A U.S. resident who has undistributed earnings in a U.S. corporation will NOT be subjected to the “transition tax”. A Canadian resident who has undistributed earnings in a Canadian corporation will be subjected to the “transition tax”!

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Expatriate Taxes • Transition Tax

11 Oct 2018

IRC Section 965 Transition Tax – Part 8

This small business thought it was saving to invest in business expansion – Wrong, they were saving to be robbed by America!

This is the eighth in my series of posts about the Sec. 965 Transition Tax and whether/how it applies to the small business corporations owned by taxpaying residents of other countries (who may also have U.S. citizenship). These small business corporations are in no way “foreign”. They are certainly “local” to the resident of another country who just happens to have the misfortune of being a U.S. citizen. Read More

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Expatriate Taxes