Blog   /   Americans Living Abroad

August 24, 2018 - William Shiraga

File an Income Tax Return Extension to December 15, 2018

If you are an American living abroad and sweating the October 15, 2018 tax filing deadline for your 2017 income tax returns, there is a possible piece of relief. You may be able to qualify for a further extension of time for filing your tax return — to December 15, 2018.

Summary

For American taxpayers living abroad, if you want to get a filing deadline of December 15, 2018 for your 2017 Form 1040, do this:

• On or before June 15, 2018, file Form 4868.
• On or before June 15, 2018, pay whatever tax you have to pay for 2017, along with that Form 4868 you are filing.

... continue reading

June 11, 2018 - Phil Hodgen

Resident for Income Tax Purposes but Not Gift Tax Purposes

I received an email from a practitioner this morning and figured it’s worth a blog post.

Reader C in Sydney asked me:

Hi Phil,

Would a MFJ couple (US citizen and NRA Spouse) using Sec 6013(g) Election qualify for Unlimited Spousal transfer from decedent US Citizen?  Inquiring minds would like to know 🙂

Election to be a U.S. taxpayer

Nonresidents who are married to U.S. persons (citizens or residents for income tax purposes) can choose to be fully subject to U.S. income tax laws.  Ordinarily, a sane person would attempt to avoid this status, if possible.

But sometimes we do the math and it actually saves tax overall to do so.  ... continue reading

February 8, 2018 - Haoshen Zhong

The GILTI Software Developer

Introducing the cross border business newsletter

In response to the tax law changes enacted December of 2017, we converted our PFICs Only newsletter to cover more topics that arise when a business crosses the US border–when a US person owns part of a foreign business or when a foreign person starts a business in the US. This is the first blog post under the new subject.

The GILTI consultant

If you were paying attention to the tax law rewrite last year, you may have heard the term “global intangible low-taxed income” (GILTI). It is supposed to establish a minimum tax on foreign source income for multinational corporations.... continue reading

September 14, 2017 - William Shiraga

Income Tax Return Extension Until December 15, 2017

If you are an American living abroad and sweating the October 15 tax filing deadline for your 2016 income tax returns, there is a possible piece of relief. You may be able to qualify for a further extension of time for filing your tax return — to December 15, 2017.

Summary

For American taxpayers living abroad, if you want to get a filing deadline of December 15, 2017 for your 2016 Form 1040, do this:

• On or before June 15, 2017, file Form 4868.
• On or before June 15, 2017, pay whatever tax you have to pay for 2016, along with that Form 4868 you are filing.

... continue reading

June 9, 2017 - Phil Hodgen

Income Tax Return Filing Deadlines for Americans Abroad

Answers In a Hurry

Here are the answers in a hurry:

When You Must File Your Income Tax Return

• April 15. If your “tax home” or “abode” is in the United States, your filing deadline is April 15. This is the default rule.​
• June 15. If your “tax home” or “abode” is outside the United States, your deadline for filing your income tax return is June 15. This is automatic and you do not need to do anything to get it.
• October 15. Anyone can file Form 4868 to make extend the filing deadline to October 15. File before April 15 or June 15 (whichever applies to you).

... continue reading