U.S. Expats Should Be Hopeful After Senate’s Finance Tax Reform Proposal

Just last week a report was issued on tax reform from the Republican staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. That report “has caused a flutter in the global expat community,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

The long report stated what many expats have argued for a long time: “The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that imposes citizenship-based taxation. In other words, the United States taxes its citizens on their worldwide income even if the citizen resides outside the United States and has no connection to the United States other than citizenship.” It continued, “The United States needs to rethink its taxing rules for nonresident U.S. citizens.”

This report was prompted by a proposal from the organization American Citizens Abroad that has gained traction among many American expats frustrated with their tax status.

While it doesn’t look like any changes in expatriate tax policy will come about in the short term, the Senate report does call for the creation of a test to determine at what point a U.S. citizen is considered a nonresident of the United States and then at what point the U.S. citizen is considered to be a resident again.

At the very least, this report addresses many of the issues Americans living overseas have been had for years, most notably that it is unfair to continue taxing American expats who plan to return to the U.S. eventually, but are now living and working aboard. We’ll continue to keep our clients informed of any potential reforms in Congress to the expat tax laws.

Learn how Expatriate Tax Returns can help you stay current on expat tax policy and file your expat taxes on your behalf by visiting the expatriatetaxreturns.com website or call 561-715-0630.