American Expat Tax Lifecycle
Cut through the noise. Stay up to date on IRS changes, tax tips, and best practices for Americans living, working, and investing abroad.
American Expat Tax Education in Plain English.
Articles that follow a move abroad from planning to filing: the foreign earned income exclusion, FBAR reporting, the state you may still owe, and country guides for Mexico and South America. Each one explains the rule and the records it depends on.
FEIE Is Federal, State Tax Is Separate: Domicile, Section 911 Conformity, and Foreign-Source Wages
The FEIE is federal. Learn how domicile, Section 911 conformity, wage sourcing, and foreign tax credits can still create state tax.
Why the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Does Not Eliminate Self-Employment Tax
FEIE can reduce regular U.S. income tax, but it does not reduce Schedule SE tax. Learn the calculation, exceptions, and records to keep.
How the FBAR $10,000 Rule Actually Works: Aggregate Maximums, Transfers, and Currency Conversion
Learn how the FBAR $10,000 rule aggregates annual account maximums, handles transfers, converts currency, and treats joint accounts.
The Foreign Housing Exclusion Is Not Your Rent: The 16 Percent Base, 30 Percent Cap, and High-Cost-City Math
Learn the 2026 foreign housing exclusion calculation, including the 16 percent base, 30 percent limit, high-cost cities, and Form 2555 ordering.
Retiring to Brazil: The Totalization Agreement That Makes Social Security Work
Learn how the U.S.-Brazil Social Security agreement assigns coverage, avoids dual contributions and combines work credits for retirement.
The Foreign Mutual Fund Trap: Why Your Overseas Brokerage Account Can Be a Tax Bomb
A foreign mutual fund can trigger PFIC tax and Form 8621. Learn the tests, tax regimes, filing exceptions, and records to preserve.
Clean Up Your Portfolio First: The Pre-Departure Financial and PFIC Checklist
Use this pre-departure PFIC checklist to inventory funds, test entity classification, preserve election data, and avoid rushed tax decisions.
The State You Left May Still Own You
A U.S. digital nomad can spend most of the year in South America and still have a state residency problem back home. Federal tax rules ask whether the…
The Nomad Audit File
The best digital nomad tax plan is not a slogan. It is a file. If a U.S. taxpayer abroad claims the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, files as a state…
What the US-Chile Treaty Does (Tie-Breaker, Withholding, Saving Clause)
The U.S.-Chile income tax treaty is useful because it gives a U.S. person moving to Chile a real treaty framework. It is dangerous because the word…
Center of Vital Interests: Becoming a Mexican Taxpayer Without Noticing
The Mexico tax problem is not just whether you have a visa, a lease, or enough days in country.
Household Goods (Menaje de Casa) to Ecuador
Ecuador’s menaje de casa regime can make a move cheaper, but it is not a casual shipping perk. It is a customs exception with legal conditions, forms,…
The Crypto Nomad Problem
A U.S. digital nomad with crypto has two different tax problems at the same time. The first is the normal expat problem: U.S. citizens and residents…
Uruguay Landmines for Americans
Uruguay can look clean from the outside: stable jurisdiction, territorial-style tax rules, a new-resident election, practical residency paths, and a…
Household Goods and Residency Paths for Uruguay
Uruguay has a practical moving regime, but the customs file and the residence file are not the same file.
Uruguay Tax Residency and the Tax-Holiday Election
The Uruguay tax holiday is not the first question.
Moving to Uruguay: Territorial Tax and the New-Resident Holiday
Uruguay is one of the most misunderstood South America tax moves for Americans.
Chile vs Its Neighbors: Why a Treaty Matters
Chile is not automatically the lowest-tax South America option for an American. It is not a U.S. tax exit. It is not a place where the treaty lets a U.S….
Household Goods and Residency Visas for Chile
Chile is not a country where the tax move and the physical move should be planned separately. The customs file, the residence-permit file, and the U.S….
Chilean Tax Residency and Worldwide Income
Chile tax residence is not just a calendar-year day count. Current Chile primary law defines residence by presence in Chile, interrupted or not, for more…
Moving to Chile: The First US-Chile Tax Treaty (In Force 2024)
Chile is the South America move that now has a treaty story.
Why the US Dollar Changes the Expat Math in Ecuador
Ecuador is the South America country where the currency conversation feels different for Americans.
Ecuador Pensioner and Investor Visas
Ecuador’s pensioner, rentista, remote-worker, and investor residence paths all start with the same planning mistake: Americans often treat the visa…
Ecuador Tax Residency and Worldwide Income
Ecuador tax residency is not the same thing as getting comfortable in Cuenca, opening a bank account, or receiving a residency visa. The tax-residence…
Moving to Ecuador: A Dollarized Economy and No US Tax Treaty
Ecuador is different from much of South America because a U.S. retiree or remote worker is not moving into a local-currency budgeting problem. Ecuador…
Colombia Landmines: Wealth Tax and Forced Heirship
The two Colombia issues that surprise Americans are not usually the visa form or the rent budget. They are patrimony and succession.
Colombia’s Visas for Americans: Digital Nomad, Migrant, Retirement
Colombia’s visa system matters for tax planning, but it is not the tax answer by itself.
Shipping Your Household Goods to Colombia
Colombia has a special household-goods import path for a person who lived abroad long enough and is entering Colombia to establish residence. That path…
Becoming a Colombian Tax Resident (183 days, worldwide income)
Colombia does not wait for a calendar year to ask the tax-residence question. The core day-count rule looks at whether an individual remains in Colombia…
Moving to Colombia: The No-Treaty Reality
Colombia can be a strong fit for an American who wants a lower-cost base, a serious city, and easier access to the rest of South America. But the tax…
Rentista vs Pensionado: The Two Real Residency Doors
Argentina has two practical temporary-residence doors for many financially independent Americans: rentista and pensionado.
What the 2025 Currency Reforms Changed for Expats
Argentina’s 2025 currency reforms changed how individuals can access dollars through the formal exchange market. They did not change the U.S. tax rule…
The 12-Month Line: When Argentina Taxes Your Worldwide Income
The Argentina tax-residence mistake is thinking the issue starts only when you feel permanently settled.
Bienes Personales: The Wealth Tax That Reaches Your US Assets
Argentina’s Bienes Personales tax is the wealth-tax problem many U.S. movers do not see coming.
Moving to Argentina: No Treaty, No Safety Net, All Form 1116
Argentina can be a compelling move for a U.S. person. The tax file is not simple.
Selling Your Mexican Home as a Non-Resident: The 25 vs 35 Percent Trap
If you sell Mexican real estate while you are treated as a nonresident of Mexico, the number that gets repeated online is 25 percent.
Your Beach Condo Is in the Restricted Zone: Meet the Fideicomiso
If you are a U.S. person buying a beach condo, resort home, or coastal lot in Mexico, the word you keep hearing is fideicomiso. In this article,…
Mexico’s 2026 Residency Income Thresholds: They Just Went Up
Mexico’s 2026 residency income thresholds are not one number.
Menaje de Casa: The Consular Permit to Move Your Stuff Duty-Free
Menaje de casa is the México move rule people hear about when they start shipping furniture, clothes, books, tools, and ordinary household goods.
Moving to Mexico: The One Tax Treaty That Works in Your Favor
Mexico is different from several popular South America moves because the United States actually has an income-tax treaty with Mexico.
Why FEIE May Not Be Your Biggest Tax Risk in South America
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, or FEIE, can matter for a U.S. citizen working abroad. For 2026, the IRS says the maximum exclusion is $132,900 per…
Die Domiciled in Brazil, Lose Half Your Estate: Forced Heirship vs Your US Will
In the United States, the working assumption behind estate planning is simple: it is your property, so you decide who gets it. You can leave everything…
Brazilian Investment Funds and U.S. PFIC Rules: What to Check
Check a Brazilian fund’s U.S. entity classification, PFIC income and asset tests, election requirements, and Form 8621 filing rules before making a portfolio decision.
VITEM XIV Decoded: Brazil’s Digital-Nomad and Retiree Visa Income Tests
If you are an American planning to live in Brazil, two visa routes will cover most of you: the digital-nomad visa if you work remotely for a foreign…
Mudança: Shipping Household Goods to Brazil (and Why Your Car Does Not Qualify)
If you are an American moving to Brazil, you can bring your used household goods, your furniture, your clothes, your books, the tools of your trade, into…
The 183-Day Trap: When Brazil Taxes Your Worldwide Income
If you are an American moving to Brazil, there is a line you cross that changes your entire tax picture, and most people cross it without noticing. The…
Moving to Brazil: The No-Treaty Reality and What It Costs You
If you are an American planning a move to Brazil, there is one structural fact that shapes almost everything else about your taxes, and most people never…
You Probably Owe Nothing, But Silence Still Costs You
If you are a US citizen living abroad, here is the fact that should lower your shoulders: you most likely owe zero US income tax. The United States taxes…