Your 1040, every year
You report worldwide income on a US return each year. The foreign earned income exclusion (Form 2555) or foreign tax credit (Form 1116) usually wipes out the US bill, but you only get either one by filing.
US expats · compliance
US expat tax compliance, without the dread.
The US taxes its citizens and green-card holders on worldwide income wherever they live. For most people abroad that ends up as little or no US tax. The filings still have to go in every year, though, and it's the missing form, not the missing tax, that usually costs money. We keep all of it current so the IRS has nothing to write to you about.
§ What compliance involves
It's more than one return.
“Staying compliant” abroad usually means a return plus a couple of reports that go to different places on different dates. File the 1040 and forget the FBAR, and you're still out of compliance.
FBAR and FATCA
The FBAR (FinCEN 114) is due once your foreign accounts together topped $10,000 at any point in the year. Form 8938 (FATCA) has much higher thresholds and goes in with your 1040. Plenty of people need both, for the same accounts.
Forms for companies, trusts and gifts
Own part of a foreign company, inherit from a non-US parent, or have a stake in a foreign trust? That's where 5471, 3520 and 3520-A come in, each with its own deadline and its own penalty, whether or not any tax is owed.
§ Deadlines & extensions
When is everything due?
- 1
April 15 — pay what you owe
Any tax due has to be paid by now, even though your return can go in later. Interest starts running from this date.
- 2
June 15 — the automatic expat extension
If you live abroad on April 15, you get two extra months to file your 1040 without asking.
- 3
October 15 — the extended deadline
File Form 4868 and the return can wait until mid-October. The FBAR is automatically extended to the same date.
- 4
All year — the other forms
The 5471 rides with your return; the 3520 and 3520-A have their own dates. We keep track of which apply to you so none of them slips.
§ Why it matters
What happens if you fall behind?
The penalties are for missing forms, not just missing tax
A late or missing information return can cost thousands of dollars per form, per year, often when no tax was owed at all. FBAR penalties go higher still if the IRS decides you knew and chose not to file. If you simply didn't know, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures exist for you, and they only work until the IRS contacts you first. So the cheap time to deal with it is now.
§ How we keep you current
One EA desk for every form, every year.
The first year, we go through your income, accounts and anything you own abroad, and work out which forms you actually need. After that it's the same checklist each season: 1040, FBAR, 8938 if you're over the threshold, and any information returns. You review a draft, an Enrolled Agent signs it, and it goes in before the deadline, leaving you with a file you can show the IRS if it ever asks. Our Expat return is $275 with the FBAR included. If you're already behind, we catch you up first, usually with our Streamlined package at from $1,500.