Last Updated on: 21st November 2023, 08:21 pm
As any expat who actually pays his taxes will tell you, the whole thing is ridiculously complex at the best of times. Dealing with one country’s taxes is bad enough, but throw two into the equation, who are both chomping at the bit for a healthy slice of that taxation pie – it’s a recipe for a big headache. That is unless you’ve got a damn good accounting company who knows their stuff regarding the taxation laws of both companies.
Enter Bambridge Accountants, the firm that specialises in helping US expats in London and UK expats in New York to navigate through the taxation forest and come out unscathed at the other end, holding as much money as is feasibly possible.
The company is well versed in tax matters across the pond in both directions. And now, to make things even easier for expats, they’ve written a detailed guide for US citizens who need to file tax returns in the States, but may have fallen behind with payments or not realised everything they needed to pay out.
Guides like this can be a godsend when information is so often vague online, or exists across a few dozen websites and you need to piece the information together like a 4D jigsaw puzzle. Taxes for US expats can be infuriatingly complex, as foreign income needs to be declared back ‘home’, although it should be exempt from US tax.
In fact many US expats have no idea that they still need to file their taxes back home despite living and working in another country. Some go many years without realising this fact at all, only to be greeted with a very rude awakening when the tax system catches up to them. Which it invariably does.
Others find out from friends or colleagues, or with a sternly worded letter that’s somehow found its way to a parent’s house or old address back home. Or maybe they find out from an article such as this one. Regardless, the key is knowing about the rule, and then taking steps to dot the t’s and cross the i’s on your returns.
Bambridge Accountants’ Streamlined Filing Procedure guide explains all the nitty gritty details to ensure expats have what they need, explaining what needs to be included in USA tax returns, and the documents that need to get sent to the IRS and US Treasury.
Alistair Bambridge, the partner at Bambridge Accountants, knows this topic can be tough for a great deal of expats to get their head around, and has detailed some of the issues that can arise:
“The banks in the UK are required to make a report on all accounts held by US citizens under the FATCA regulations – the banks will write to their US customers in the UK and this is often the first time that individuals realize they should have been filing US returns.
“There are many US citizens who leave America and don’t realize they need to keep filing US taxes. Luckily, the IRS has an amnesty, the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedure, that allows US expats to catch up without any penalties.And he’s confident the guide his company have produced will help all US expats living in the UK who need to file taxes back home:
“US expats can struggle with taxes, the law is complex, the Streamlined Filing Procedure Guide helps to explain the process for US citizens and Green Card holders to catch up with their US tax returns.”
Burying your head in the sand is never a long term strategy that pays off with taxes, so we’re glad Bambridge accountants has used their wisdom to help expats avoid any tricky, ‘taxing’ situations.
