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Roth IRA vs. traditional IRA: Which retirement account is right for you?

14 Nov 2024

IRS announces inflation-adjusted tax penalties for 2025

12 Nov 2024

IRS announces e-filing shutdown for system update

Services

Pricing plans

Core ($400)
Form 1040 federal tax return package
Premier ($500)
For those with additional income sources beyond the core package.
Streamlined procedure ($1,300)
For those who have not filed and want to become compliant with amnesty from penalties.

Pricing

Tax Guide

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IRS 101

Tax musings

Tax concepts

Expat tax 101

Who we help

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U.S. expatriate tax return preparation

We have been helping American expatriates reduce or eliminate U.S. tax bills, comply with IRS tax filing requirements and avoid unnecessary tax audits or penalties for over 25 years. We offer all services related to expatriate tax - from advice on tax planning to the practicalities of fighting the IRS to reduce your back taxes.

Menu on the left side of the page shows links to pages that explain in greater detail various services we offer. Below we will outline our standard services and their fees.

Standard expatriate tax services

US federal tax return preparation - Our expert tax preparers have over 25 years experience with expatriate returns. We prepare single year returns, as well as help delinquent non-filers become complaint with the IRS through amnesty programs such as the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Package
State tax return - We will advise you if you need to file a state return (depends on which state you most recently resided in) and can prepare the return if one is required. Most expats do not require to file a State return and we often find a way to stop filing 'difficult' states such as California.
Consultation - We offer 3 levels of tax consultations, including a free intro consultation (with $50 retainer for tax services) and high level tax planning sessions.

Have you fallen behind on your U.S. taxes? Need to catch up?

You're not alone! One of our tax service specialties is helping customers who are delinquent get on the good side of the IRS. We have extensive experience helping expats get compliant with the government and know exactly the best ways to navigate this process.

For customers who need to catch up on their US expat taxes and need to file multiple (3+) years at a time, we offer a 20% discount.

The best option to become compliant is the Streamlined procedure announced by the IRS in 2014. Joining this program requires only the filing of the last 3 years of tax returns and 6 years of FBAR (regardless of how many years the taxpayer has missed).

The best part is that the penalties you might be liable to pay for failure to declare foreign bank accounts (those are the really scary ones - please see Article on FBAR Penalties) will be waived.

We’ve helped thousands of expats get up to speed with their U.S. tax returns using this program and have developed the unique expertise with it.

Did you receive an IRS notice?

Worry not! We also provide US compliance services for US delinquent taxpayers enabling them to get back in the US tax system.

If you’ve received a nastygram from the IRS, we can help - IRS letter service

Taxes for Expats has answered IRS notices of all degrees of complexity, taking a holistic approach to tax liabilities. We can provide advice concerning a response to an IRS notice, reviewing your position, checking IRS calculations, and preparing a considered response, addressing the issues and minimizing your costs.

Check my return

Very often when we get a new client and check his or her past returns we find numerous errors - almost always made against the client's interests. This happens when a client self-prepared or the return was performed by tax preparers unfamiliar with the complexities of expatriate taxation. This happens so frequently that we established a service specifically to deal with this - called Check My Return.

We are happy to review your last three years tax returns for amendment opportunities and likely refunds. The service costs $250 per year. If we find any errors, the fee would be applied towards the cost of preparing an amended return (which would likely save you hundreds, if not thousands). You are welcome to use it even if you are happy with your current tax preparer. After all, a second opinion can only be beneficial!

We also assist American expatriates in the following complex tax areas:

Alternative minimum tax foreign tax credit
Due dates of tax returns and payments
Exchange rate conversions
Exemption and dependency allowances
Foreign earned income exclusion
- defining what is foreign earned income
- qualifying for the exclusion
- treatment of housing costs
- meeting the bona fide or physical residence test
- filing within the deadline to qualify for the exclusion
Foreign tax credit
- How to qualify
- Calculating the credit
- Carry-backs and carry-forwards of the credit
Non-resident alien married to U.S. citizen
Reporting depreciation
Reporting foreign financial accounts
Tax treaties with foreign countries
Totalization agreements
Tax treatment of
- Contributions to foreign charitable organizations
- Military personnel
- Ministers serving abroad
- Moving expenses
- Social security pension
- Students studying abroad
Transferring property to a foreign trust
Treatment of controlled foreign corporations
Treaty-based return position disclosure
W-9 vs. W-8BEN filing requirements
Withholding rules on global investors of U.S. securities