Will Form 8854 Expatriates 2023-2024

Music. Hi, I'm Dennis Prager. I'm a former IRS trial attorney and a California State Bar certified tax specialist. This is just one in a series of videos designed to give answers to the questions that my clients frequently ask. US citizens, resident aliens, and others who are US taxpayers face a unique mode of taxation in the United States. US taxpayers are taxed on their worldwide income, regardless of where it was earned. Predictably and understandably, this method of taxation results in many expatriates worrying about whether they will face double taxation, paying taxes on their income to both the nation they're living in and to the Internal Revenue Service. While there are provisions in the US tax code and various tax treaties to address the issue of double taxation, these provisions can be difficult to understand, create problems for laypersons, and present difficulties in maintaining compliance in future tax years as circumstances and finances change. However, the foreign earned income exclusion can be an essential tool in ensuring that double taxation does not occur. What is the foreign earned income exclusion? The foreign earned income exclusion is one way the tax code accounts for the problems created by our status-based system of taxation. In general, US citizens or permanent legal residents living abroad are eligible to claim the exclusion. The amount of the exclusion is adjusted each year based upon the rate of inflation and the amount of the exclusion for the current and past tax years. For example, in 2015 it was $100,800, in 2014 it was $99,200, in 2013 it was $97,600, and so on. In addition to this income exclusion, the taxpayer may also exclude the value of employer-provided meals, lodging, and certain fringe benefits. However, despite the initial appeal of this provision, it is...