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
The Office of the National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent organization within the IRS that works to safeguard taxpayer rights, submits semiannual reports to Congress, and the 2019 National Taxpayer Advocate Midyear Objectives Report to Congress is now available. This is one piece of news you don’t want to skip because, historically, the National Taxpayer Advocate has addressed issues of unfairness for all American taxpayers. But the report also addresses expat tax issues like whether or not you can get a passport when you’re behind on taxes. Since expat tax issues don’t often get a lot of traction, these reports are essential to keep up on. So, skip the hundreds-of-pages-long report and read our summary for expats instead.
The National Taxpayer Advocate Midyear Objectives Report starts off by talking about how American taxpayers’ trust has been eroded by poor service from the IRS, and worse yet, there are no current plans to fix this issue. So, the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is developing an electronic tool to help guide taxpayers through the complicated American tax process.
Other areas of current focus include:
The National Taxpayer Advocate mentions a newly created concept, the Taxpayer Anxiety Index, to help the IRS structure its taxpayer interactions. Of all American taxpayers, expats may be the best acquainted with taxpayer anxiety. But, that aside, there are only two areas that concern the majority of expats this time.
Area of Focus #10 in the report is geared toward helping taxpayers whose passports are affected by their tax liability understand their rights. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate Midyear Objectives Report, the four rights currently being impacted by the seizure of passports are the right to be informed, the right to challenge the IRS’s position and be heard, the right to retain representation, and the right to a fair and just tax system. An important takeaway for expats from this part of the report: if your passport has been seized due to your tax liability, contacting the TAS is a good idea. They might be able to help. In addition to helping taxpayers on a case-by-case basis, the TAS has other initiatives to address the negative impact of passport revocation, like meeting with the Department of State to discuss ways to alleviate the burden this puts on expats.
Area of Focus #12 in the report seeks more clarity and certainty from the IRS’s voluntary disclosure program. You may recall that, in 2018, the IRS terminated the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program and recently developed a new kind of disclosure program. Currently, the definition of willfulness – a big factor for which disclosure program you are allowed to use – is somewhat in the eye of the beholder, and that beholder is the IRS. If expats were unaware of their tax-filing requirements but still believe their behavior could be misconstrued as willful, they may choose to use a voluntary disclosure program to avoid the risk of further scrutiny by the IRS. When they do disclose, they must choose between paying penalties meant for tax-evading delinquents and trying to demonstrate their innocence without the typical safeguards. The TAS is hoping to get a firm explanation of which taxpayers should use which disclosure program and why.
Expats will be hoping for a narrower application of the passport revocation process and more clarity on the voluntary disclosure programs, but that will only happen if the IRS heeds the latest TAS report. For broader changes to occur, Congress would need to take up these issues and enact some tax laws that are fairer for expats. Luckily, some Congress members have been listening, and slowly, they are taking action.
Get started with the expat experts at Greenback today, and you’ll be tax compliant before you know it.
Use our simple excel calculator to get an estimate of how the foreign earned income exclusion will save you money. It will make your day!