http://expat-taxhelp.com Online Tax Advice for American Expats Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:57:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Status: After well-nigh two years of contesting an erroneous IRS audit, an American expatriate couple continues in spite of challenging circumstances and mounting assessments to convince the Service to cancel their examination. I.  A Tax Compliant Expatriate Couple.A married couple – let’s call them James and Isabel Platt - have resided ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2011/03/10/irs-circumvents-bilateral-agreement-%e2%80%93-pursues-american-expatriate-couple-for-social-security-taxes/ The United States tax authority – Internal Revenue Service – is the only institution that requires U.S. citizens and deemed U.S. residents to file an annual tax return on which is reported income from all sources worldwide. Other countries apply this requirement to residents rather than citizenry. Occasionally Americans ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2011/01/17/41/ Anyone whose estate is valued at more than $1m might wishfully contemplate dying this year. That is if they intend to leave property to their heirs. Because on 1 January 2011, the federal estate tax is scheduled to re-emerge with a vengeance and impose a 55% levy. From 2001 - 2009, ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2010/07/31/re-emergence-of-estate-tax-in-2011/ The eligibility of American expatriates and their families to receive US Social Security benefits depends on understanding the qualifications. Citizens of most European countries may receive benefits but not US citizens residing in Cambodia, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea or certain areas of the former Soviet Union. Survivors or dependents who ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2009/11/15/american-expats-and-social-security/ Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service had in place a tax amnesty. In former times, a tax amnesty might have signified forgiveness of taxes. Tax debtors found their obligations to the governing authority wiped clean. The populace then felt good about their governors and, if anything, more readily paid ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2009/10/03/irs-tax-amnesty/ Recently the friend of a client posed the question whether a US non-resident alien has to file a US tax return based on interest earned on an account in the US? To understand this tax filing requirement, it is first necessary to distinguish between resident and non-resident alien status. A resident ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2009/05/25/us-tax-filing-requirement-imposed-on-nonresidents/ RJ has been employed as a consular agent since 2003. As a foreign resident, he should qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) even though he does not report or pay taxes to the foreign country wherein he resides. To be sure, he consulted with IRS agents in Paris ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2009/01/27/congress-legislates-accuracy-penalty/ Twenty years ago when the writer had a public tax practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he received a call from a shopkeeper on Canyon Road.  ‘I’ve received a notice from IRS. Can you help me with my taxes?’ Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico and famous for ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2008/08/23/graduated-tax-or-gradually-taxed/ The history of capital gains treatment stateside is interesting. As well, it is reflective of how the American tax authority periodically tampers with the tax law. From 1913 to 1921, capital gains were taxed at 7%. In 1921, a rate of 12.5% was applied to assets held for two years ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2008/04/17/capitalizing-gains-and-losses/ One of the expat advantages of a later tax filing due date - 16 June 2008 - for the 2007 US federal income tax return is the extra time to put together those papers related to foreign taxes.  This 16 June due date can even be extended to 15 October by ... http://expat-taxhelp.com/2008/02/23/2007-tax-preparation/