Discover all the tax services we offer
Get an instance service estimate
Comprehensive guides on everything you need to know from planning your expat journey to filing your expat taxes with ease.
Our Country Guides will help you understand the ins and out of your specific U.S. expat tax requirements.
Access up-to-date articles, breaking news, deadline information and in-depth case studies on US expat taxes.
Get the answers to all your questions and browse Greenback’s most frequently asked customer questions.
Sign up for one of our live webinars hosted by our expert accountant team or watch one on-demand today.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get money-saving tips, expat tax news, and exclusive promos.
Learn how our straightforward pricing, easy process, and an expert team makes us uniquely qualified to simplify the hassle of expat tax filing.
We’ve assembled a team only the most experienced, knowledgeable, and friendly CPAs and IRS Enrolled Agents our clients can trust.
Read our client testimonials to get a feel for the Greenback experience straight from the expats we’ve worked with.
We’re featured in many reliable news sources thanks to our reputation as experts on US taxes abroad.
Whatever your expat tax needs, wheverver in the world, we’d love to hear from you.
Blog
Expats’ passports are their lifelines. The freedom to travel without restriction between countries is not a luxury – for many expats, it is the only way to see their families. The loss of a passport could affect their eligibility to work and much more. But recently, the IRS has started cracking down on Americans abroad who are filing taxes late and have “seriously delinquent tax debt“. Find out what you need to know to ensure you are tax compliant and keep your American passport in good standing.
When Americans move to other countries, many are not aware that the US tax-filing requirement follows them wherever they may go, for the rest of their lives, unless they renounce their citizenship. Though they may not intend to break the IRS’ rules (or even know they are filing taxes late!), the penalties, interest, and fees can rack up very quickly.
Even expats who do not owe taxes must still file annually in order to remain compliant. Those who fail to meet these requirements are faced with failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties. The failure-to-file penalty adds 5% of your tax bill monthly, not to exceed 25%. The failure-to-pay penalty adds .5% of your tax bill monthly, and cannot exceed 25% of the total tax owed. Filing taxes late can result in a penalty of $435 or 100% of the taxes owed, whichever is smaller.
Anyone who owes more than $53,000 (adjusted annually for inflation) to the IRS can have their passport revoked or rendered ineligible for renewal, or may not be able to obtain a new passport. The IRS has notified 400,000 taxpayers with debt that exceeds the $53,000 threshold that their passports are at risk. These notifications detail that they must settle their tax debt within 30 days or they will be at risk to have their passport revoked. The only way to have the passport status renewed is to settle the debt, which can take quite a while when the debt is $53,000 and higher. Or, if they are unable to settle the debt, they can arrange for an installment agreement to make payments. For more details, read the details about IRS payment plans.
Unfortunately, expats are overly impacted by this regulation, since many stateside American taxpayers do not even have passports. The experts here at Greenback recommend you settle the debt by making payments to the IRS and then filing your returns to ensure you aren’t at risk of losing your passport. Remember, your return filing could take longer than 30 days depending on the forms required.
If you’re filing taxes late or at risk of losing your passport due to a tax debt above $53,000, the best course of action is to get caught up as quickly as possible. The Streamlined Filing Procedures are an amnesty program offered by the IRS that allows expats filing taxes late to get caught up without any penalties. To use this program, you must submit:
However, as the IRS has terminated other amnesty programs recently, the Streamlined Filing Procedures will likely, at some point, be terminated as well.
In order to avoid the nightmare that is passport revocation, the safest approach is to get caught up on your taxes today. Get started with Greenback, and we’ll surprise you with just how easy that is.