4 ms·

> FATCA forces me to hand over my private financial information, as well as my non-American husband’s, to an extent that homeland Americans don’t have to unless

> FATCA forces me to hand over my private financial information, as well as my non-American husband’s, to an extent that homeland Americans don’t have to unless they’re suspected of a crime. Come on, it's your bank account numbers, that's only because the US government already knows what your account numbers are. > I pay almost $1000 per year to an accountant to fill out the forms—more and lengthier than they’d be if I lived in the US—only to prove I owe nothing, since I pay taxes here in the Netherlands. If I had to pay $1000 to an accountant, I'd probably learn how to do the forms myself.

faut_reflechir 5y ago
I did the tax forms myself when living abroad, precisely because I didn't earn enough income to afford the $1000 cost (in fact, it was perhaps twice this, in Switzerland, based on my cursory Googling at the time). It routinely took over a week of working days, which was only possible because I had a sympathetic boss and generous vacation time. It's also quite stressful, since there are many ambiguous questions, most of the proprietary tax software is ill-equipped to consider the situation of an American living abroad, and a wrong answer can subject you to audit.
- Svip 5y ago
  What are the consequences to not filing? My wife is a US citizen, and she hasn't filed for two years. I've met other US citizens that don't file either. So far I have not heard of any issues relating to not filing.
  - asguy 5y ago
    I know a US citizen who hasn’t filed in 34 years. I wonder what the penalty would look like if she ever takes a job in the US again.
  - jfk13 5y ago
    Does she earn much? If her income is low enough, she may be exempt from filing. https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/how-much-do-you-have-to-make-to-file-taxes/ https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/how-m... (Note that I am not a tax professional and you should not rely on anything I say.)
    - BayAreaEscapee 5y ago
      It doesn't matter. If she has bank accounts abroad exceeding the threshold, she's obliged to file just to disclose her foreign bank accounts.
  - 001Diana 5y ago
    The issue is that the US can determine she didn’t file, file for her, and assess fines/tax. Once that gets to $50k she can’t renew her passport, and can no longer enter or leave the US as the law states she can’t use her foreign passport if a US citizen. If she lives in a country that assists the IRS with collection, they can reach in and take it. They have all her bank details from FBAR filing.
toomuchtodo 5y ago
Eventual expat here (clock is running on citizenship elsewhere through an investment program). I would not recommend filing your taxes yourself if you're a non-US resident with citizenship. It's cumbersome because of mechanizations to prevent tax evasion. There's room for improvement, but expats have very little pull congressionally in getting reform done to improve the experience. These fees should also be made deductible (tax prep fees no longer are). With that said, $1k annually is a small price to pay to maintain your US citizenship through annual tax filings. The benefits (imho) outweigh the cost (employment access, residency, repatriation). Tangentially, this sounds like a startup opportunity.
- chadd 5y ago
  it's extremely easy to file the FBAR forms. and the rest are standard tax forms, and you even get to file later. I lived abroad and ran a US and Argentine company and had 2 accountants and a bookkeeper, so it can get complex when you have a lot of employees, but for the first few years abroad, when it was just me doing remote consulting, i just did it myself and it's not difficult.
  - 001Diana 5y ago
    It isn’t complicated to file FBAR, but why should we have to give all our bank account details to the US when citizens living there would only have to under criminal investigation? Also if the US decides you are owing taxes/fines and you live in a country that assists the IRS with collection, they have all your account details.
voisin 5y ago
The penalties for making a mistake are such that you would be a fool to take the risk to save $1,000.
michaelhoffman 5y ago
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is USD 107,600. If you make less than that, then the forms (Form 2555) are pretty easy. If you make more, Form 1116 can be a pain to get right but if you have an accountant do it once you can figure out how to modify the form for subsequent years.
- voisin 5y ago
  As the name implies, that only applies to Earned Income. Not investment or business income not taken as salary or any other form of income.

faut_reflechir 5y ago

I did the tax forms myself when living abroad, precisely because I didn't earn enough income to afford the $1000 cost (in fact, it was perhaps twice this, in Switzerland, based on my cursory Googling at the time). It routinely took over a week of working days, which was only possible because I had a sympathetic boss and generous vacation time. It's also quite stressful, since there are many ambiguous questions, most of the proprietary tax software is ill-equipped to consider the situation of an American living abroad, and a wrong answer can subject you to audit.

Svip 5y ago
What are the consequences to not filing? My wife is a US citizen, and she hasn't filed for two years. I've met other US citizens that don't file either. So far I have not heard of any issues relating to not filing.
- asguy 5y ago
  I know a US citizen who hasn’t filed in 34 years. I wonder what the penalty would look like if she ever takes a job in the US again.
- jfk13 5y ago
  Does she earn much? If her income is low enough, she may be exempt from filing. https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/how-much-do-you-have-to-make-to-file-taxes/ https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/how-m... (Note that I am not a tax professional and you should not rely on anything I say.)
  - BayAreaEscapee 5y ago
    It doesn't matter. If she has bank accounts abroad exceeding the threshold, she's obliged to file just to disclose her foreign bank accounts.
- 001Diana 5y ago
  The issue is that the US can determine she didn’t file, file for her, and assess fines/tax. Once that gets to $50k she can’t renew her passport, and can no longer enter or leave the US as the law states she can’t use her foreign passport if a US citizen. If she lives in a country that assists the IRS with collection, they can reach in and take it. They have all her bank details from FBAR filing.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

Eventual expat here (clock is running on citizenship elsewhere through an investment program). I would not recommend filing your taxes yourself if you're a non-US resident with citizenship. It's cumbersome because of mechanizations to prevent tax evasion. There's room for improvement, but expats have very little pull congressionally in getting reform done to improve the experience. These fees should also be made deductible (tax prep fees no longer are). With that said, $1k annually is a small price to pay to maintain your US citizenship through annual tax filings. The benefits (imho) outweigh the cost (employment access, residency, repatriation). Tangentially, this sounds like a startup opportunity.

chadd 5y ago
it's extremely easy to file the FBAR forms. and the rest are standard tax forms, and you even get to file later. I lived abroad and ran a US and Argentine company and had 2 accountants and a bookkeeper, so it can get complex when you have a lot of employees, but for the first few years abroad, when it was just me doing remote consulting, i just did it myself and it's not difficult.
- 001Diana 5y ago
  It isn’t complicated to file FBAR, but why should we have to give all our bank account details to the US when citizens living there would only have to under criminal investigation? Also if the US decides you are owing taxes/fines and you live in a country that assists the IRS with collection, they have all your account details.

voisin 5y ago

The penalties for making a mistake are such that you would be a fool to take the risk to save $1,000.

michaelhoffman 5y ago

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is USD 107,600. If you make less than that, then the forms (Form 2555) are pretty easy. If you make more, Form 1116 can be a pain to get right but if you have an accountant do it once you can figure out how to modify the form for subsequent years.

voisin 5y ago
As the name implies, that only applies to Earned Income. Not investment or business income not taken as salary or any other form of income.