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Barron's International Tax Service

« The TaxBarron » Serving the American Expatriate Community

International Taxes

International Taxation due to the multitude of laws and regulations from country to country influences decisions as to investing, financing, locating and organizing.  National tax systems are diverse and complex.  In the European Union there are over 200 different rates on VAT.  There are special rules on foreign source income.  And the laws and agreements regulating international taxation frequently change.  Such complexities are especially challenging to accountants and managers of multinational firms.

Further, American expatriates often are exposed to confusing filing requirements imposed by taxing authorities in their foreign countries of residence and in their own homeland. Not only do many foreign countries require that residents report and pay taxes on world-wide income (see Filing Requirements) but also does the Internal Revenue Service require that U.S. citizens and residents do the same.

Hundreds of tax treaties between countries exist to protect citizens and residents from double taxation. Yet these same agreements facilitate exchanges of information between taxing authorities that increasingly compels expatriates to file tax returns both at home and abroad.

But the filing complexities do not end with American expatriate tax returns. What about foreign corporations, foreign partnerships or estate taxes? These filing require ments are extremely complex, demanding the highest attention to detail.

In the arena of international tax, we have the experience to assist American expatriates in filing their income, information and estate tax returns both at home and abroad. In 2005 he recovered $30,000 in taxes an airline pilot had paid in 2003. This year he saved an executive engineer over $90,000 potentially assessed as Alternative Minimum Tax. His articles on international tax issues can start you on the road toward a better understanding.

Barron assists American expats in the following complex tax areas:

• Alternative minimum tax foreign tax credit
• Due dates of tax returns and payments
• Exchange rate conversions
• Exemption and dependency allowances
• Foreign earned income exclusion
  • defining what is foreign earned income
  • qualifying for the exclusion
  • treatment of housing costs
  • meeting the bona fide or physical residence test
  • filing within the deadline to qualify for the exclusion
• Foreign tax credit
  • How to qualify
  • Calculating the credit
  • Carry-backs and carry-forwards of the credit
• Non-resident alien married to U.S. citizen
• Rreporting depreciation
• Reporting foreign financial accounts
• Tax treaties with foreign countries
• Totalization agreements
• Tax treatment of
  • Contributions to foreign charitable organizations
  • Military personnel
  • Ministers serving abroad
  • Moving expenses
  • Social security pension
  • Students studying abroad
• Transferring property to a foreign trust
• Treatment of controlled foreign corporations
• Treaty-based return position disclosure
• W-9 vs. W-8BEN filing requirements
• Withholding rules on global investors of U.S. securities

 

For further reference -

Foreign Corporations
Income & Tax Credits
Social Security
EU Taxation
Foreign Trusts