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Ask HN: Does anyone have a guide for filing the overseas U.S. tax return?

1 points by telesilla ↗ HN
As a savvy computer user, I was asked by a friend if I know how to make sense of the mandatory U.S. tax filing requirements she must adhere to, as a U.S. citizen who lives overseas.

She's rightly infuriated that when she called the IRS, they said "I'm sorry, due to budget cuts we cannot help you line by line".

I'm fortunate enough not to have to worry about this but I know if I was, I would have written myself a clear, reusable guide or custom-designed web form I could refer to every year. Does anyone have something they would be willing to share, that I could pass on to her?

5 comments

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bufferoverflow
It depends on which country you're in, and whether they have any tax agreements with the US. In some countries like Switzerland you get double taxed.
telesilla
She is a U.S. citizen, she thought it was irrelevant what country she is in? She is also under the threshold (whatever it is) and has no tax to pay.
eesmith
Does https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/expat-guide/fi... help?

Even if you don't want to use their services, there are pointers about some of the relevant topics, like https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/articles/fbar-...

telesilla
Thanks. A quick review of these links ultimately point to "pay us to do the hard work" for $300-500 - a lot of money for her.

It seems ridiculously unfair to be submitted to this process when the preference should be like it is in my home country, if you don't make above the threshold, you don't file. Forcing everyone to file, who is making money or not, is brutal.

eesmith
I did a search for "expat American taxes" and found https://www.internationalcitizens.com/finances/tax-filing-am... .

Add a country for more country-specific results, like for the UK at https://www.taxesforexpats.com/uk/us-tax-preparation-in-uk.h... and Germany https://www.howtogermany.com/pages/ustaxes.html .

The latter mentions "IRS Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad, which should answer most of your questions" then adds "Due to the complexity of both the U.S. and German tax systems and their interaction with one another, it is always recommended that you hire a tax consultant (Steuerberater/CPA) or a professional US Tax preparer to guide you through the intricacies involved in filing returns as well as to provide some ease of mind during your stay abroad".