Recognizing, as announced on June 3, that there is a large population of Americans residing abroad who have been afraid to become “compliant” and honor mandatory tax and financial asset reporting requirements imposed by the US Internal Revenue Service, the IRS announced on June 18 “major changes in its offshore voluntary compliance programs, providing new options to help (…) taxpayers...

In remarks before the U.S. Council for International Business-OECD International Tax Conference on June 3, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen recognized that the “voluntary disclosure” programs designed to punish tax fraud may have been “too focused on those willfully evading their tax obligations (and) not accommodating enough to others who don’t necessarily need protection from criminal prosecution because their compliance failures...

FAWCO's partner organization AARO (Association of Americans Resident Overseas) is launching a survey of the overseas Americans community concerning the “denial of financial services” to US citizens and greencard holders.

There is no need today to describe the precarious situation in which many “US tax persons” find themselves because financial services are being denied both in the United States (though “Patriot...

What you need to know (and do) about voting from overseas in 2014

The “mid-terms” – Congressional and state elections – will be held in the US in November: primaries and special elections are already underway. Every vote counts, especially while margins of victory remain narrow (a few hundred in recent state election in Virginia – 9 for one state...

IRS: Social SecurityTax Consequences of Working Abroad

What if Someone Dies Owning an Undeclared Financial Account? What Should Heirs Do?

 

Read the Tax & Banking Disclaimer.

Unfortunately the US continues to tax many savings vehicles used by foreign retirement accounts disadvantageously (PFIC rules). We are working on raising awareness of this unfair practice in Washington. In some of the recently negotiated Intergovernmental Agreements, like in Switzerland, many foreign retirement programs are exempted from FATCA reporting. In some, but not all, countries some form of similar treatment...