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Category: Taxes

07 Sep
Signing Last Will and Testament

Why You Should Start Estate Planning Now

Estate planning is something everyone needs to think about even if all they intend to do is put a will in place designating what assets go to which heirs. Without a will in place, the deceased is considered intestate and their assets will be divided up based on the laws of the state where they […]

15 Jun
clock ringing with tax time logo next to it

A Guide To Tax Obligations For U.S. Citizens Living Overseas

The World’s 7 Best Offshore Tax Havens Post-Pandemic The United States and Eritrea, a small African nation, are the only two countries in the world to tax citizens on their worldwide income no matter where they live. Other countries tax their citizens only when they reside or earn money in that country. The bottom-line practical [...]
27 Feb
tax bill for 2020

The Problems With Wealth Tax: Why It Just Doesn’t Work

What’s This About A U.S. Wealth Tax? It’s that time of year again… It’s tax season. Thankfully, no big changes for U.S. tax filers this year. However, one big potential tax change is being discussed among the Democratic presidential nominees—a wealth tax. Each presidential hopeful suggesting the United States begin taxing its “wealthy” has his [...]
17 Feb
xunatunich in belize

History Of Belize: From Maya Settlement To Melting Pot

This Is Still One Of The World's Top Offshore Havens In addition to the Maya, you've got the Kriol people. The Kriol of Belize are descended from the British and Africans who settled much of the country's coastline in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. They, like the Maya, continue to influence local politics, the [...]
13 Feb
old town in porto

Portugal’s Non-Habitual Residency Tax Updates: The Truth

Portugal’s NHR Tax Program Is Undergoing Changes—Here’s What You Need To Know Many readers have written to me over the last couple of months asking for confirmation and clarification of rumors they’ve read online about changes to Portugal’s Non-Habitual Residency (NHR) tax program. I’ve seen the articles myself. Some say the NHR is being eliminated [...]
16 Sep
A man filing taxes

The Challenges Of Tax Filing While Being Abroad

Oct. 15 Looms—Here's What You Need To Know To Stay Compliant That is, any American who filed for an extension is now buckling down to prepare his 2018 tax return... myself included. One related topic that has been generating lots of questions for me, both during last week's Retire Overseas Conference in Houston and in my inbox [...]
08 Apr
Blackboard with April 15 Tax Day written in big letters

Admitting Defeat On Tax Form 5471… For This Year Anyway

How The IRS Finally Got Me To Cry Uncle OK. I give up. I started working on my U.S. tax returns last week. Ordinarily, that'd have allowed me plenty of time to finalize everything in time to file on the 15th. But these are not ordinary times, dear fellow offshore American. The changes as represented [...]
07 Mar
tax return being filled out

An Update On Tax Changes And Qualified Opportunity Zones

Qualified Opportunity Zone Tax Breaks—Setting The Record Straight The U.S. tax code is nearly 75,000 pages long. That is to say… U.S. taxes are the most complicated in the world. Tax bills are passed based on political whim and agenda and then the IRS is tasked with drafting detailed regulations to connect the new laws [...]
14 Feb
man calculating taxes with a calculator

How To Stay Compliant With Offshore Taxes

Everything The American (And Canadian) Needs To Know About Offshore Taxes This month’s issue of my Simon Letter service features my annual review, overview, and update on taxes for the American abroad. The big change affecting us Americans overseas since my report this time last year is the 2017 tax law that now forces U.S.-controlled [...]