1,407 plain-English guides on cross-border moves, US and Canadian returns, and small-business money. Each one ends in what to do next, and says when a written Position Check is the smarter first step.
October 5, 2026
Found a mistake, a missed exclusion, or an unreported account after filing? Expats fix returns with Form 1040-X — within a time limit for refunds, with special rules for claiming the foreign earned income exclusion late, and separately for FBAR corrections.
Read more →October 5, 2026
One of two ways to qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, the bona fide residence test turns on where you genuinely live rather than how many days you spent abroad. What it requires, how it differs from the physical-presence test, the full-tax-year rule, and the statement that disqualifies you.
Read more →October 5, 2026
The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income no matter where they live — almost unique in the world. Where the rule comes from, how it works in practice, and what it means for expats.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Working from a different country every few months doesn't pause U.S. taxes. The tax-home problem that can disqualify the exclusion, the 330-day test, self-employment tax, state residency, and when a host country starts taxing you.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Leaving the country doesn't always end your state tax obligation. Which states keep taxing former residents, how to break residency, and what to do before you move.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Holding a second passport changes nothing about your U.S. filing obligation. What dual citizens must file, where the two systems overlap, and how to catch up if you never knew.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Everything on a U.S. return is in dollars, so an expat converts every number. Which rate to use for income, expenses, assets, and account balances, when the yearly average is allowed, and where a currency move becomes taxable in its own right.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Living abroad means every bank account you have is a foreign account. Which accounts count toward the FBAR's $10,000 threshold, the expat situations that get missed — pensions, joint accounts with a non-U.S. spouse, employer accounts — and how penalties really work.
Read more →October 5, 2026
The foreign earned income exclusion and the foreign tax credit both prevent double tax, but they work differently and the choice can lock you in for years. How to decide.
Read more →October 5, 2026
On top of the foreign earned income exclusion, expats can exclude or deduct part of what they pay for housing abroad. How the base amount and cap work, which costs count, and why employees and the self-employed get different versions.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Insurance-based savings products sold abroad — whole life, unit-linked policies, endowments, tax-free savings wrappers — rarely keep their local tax treatment on a U.S. return. The excise tax on foreign premiums, when a policy's growth is taxable each year, and the reporting that comes with cash value.
Read more →October 5, 2026
A foreign pension or retirement plan is rarely treated like a 401(k) on a U.S. return. How contributions, growth, and withdrawals are taxed, what must be reported, and where treaties help.
Read more →October 5, 2026
A rental abroad is reported on Schedule E like any U.S. rental — in dollars, with thirty-year depreciation under the alternative system, foreign tax credited on Form 1116, and the account that collects the rent on the FBAR.
Read more →October 5, 2026
The source of income — foreign or U.S. — decides whether the foreign tax credit and the earned income exclusion can touch it. The sourcing rules for wages, business income, interest, dividends, rent, and sales.
Read more →October 5, 2026
The foreign tax credit isn't one pool. Form 1116 sorts foreign income and foreign tax into separate categories, and credit in one can't offset U.S. tax in another. Why expats with salary and investments end up with wasted credits, and how the high-tax kickout and carryovers work.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Form 8938 has different, higher reporting thresholds for taxpayers living abroad — and a broader list of assets than the FBAR. The exact thresholds, what counts as a specified foreign financial asset, how it differs from the FBAR, and the penalty for leaving it out.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Money or property received from a non-U.S. relative is usually not taxable income in the U.S. — but above a threshold it must be reported on Form 3520, and the penalty for silence is a percentage of the gift. What to report, when, and what happens to the asset afterward.
Read more →October 5, 2026
U.S. income tax treaties decide which country taxes what — but the saving clause lets the U.S. keep taxing its own citizens. What treaties actually do for Americans abroad.
Read more →October 5, 2026
U.S. retirement accounts don't close when you move abroad, but the rules around them change. Why excluded income can't fund an IRA, how the Roth income limit counts your excluded wages, what happens to a 401(k) you leave behind, and how the country you live in may tax the account.
Read more →October 5, 2026
An IRS letter that takes six weeks to reach you abroad still carries a 30-day response deadline. What the common expat notices mean, how to respond from another country, how to get more time, and when to bring in a representative.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Expats face two kinds of IRS penalty — the familiar ones tied to tax owed, and the information-return penalties that apply even when no tax is due. What each one costs, which ones actually bite Americans abroad, and the three routes to having them waived.
Read more →October 5, 2026
An American abroad married to a foreign spouse has three ways to file — separately, jointly by election, or as head of household — each with different consequences for the spouse's income, accounts, and privacy. How to choose, and what the joint election really commits you to.
Read more →October 5, 2026
Many U.S. tax limits are tested on modified adjusted gross income — and most of those tests add excluded foreign income back. Why the exclusion can make you look richer than your tax return suggests.
Read more →October 5, 2026
The year you move is the hardest expat return you'll file — part of it domestic, part abroad, and the exclusion depends on days you haven't spent yet. How the prorated exclusion works, why Form 2350 exists, what to do about state tax and withholding, and the reporting that starts the moment you open a foreign account.
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