February 2011 ~ Matt.Peloquin.Info

Monday, February 21, 2011

Tips for Expats Filing USA Taxes from Overseas

8:05 AM

Matt Peloquin

With it being tax season in the US, it seemed like a good time to share some tips for filing your US taxes while overseas. If you're an expat but spent more than 30 days in the US, you still have to file. Here's a few ways to do it easily...

Filing from Overseas:

A quick tip. You can do all your filings online (for a low charge) for both federal and state via a number of services:

TaxAct
Free Forms
Turbo Tax
HR Block

If you are self-employed, have a normal accountant who handles your taxes but still need to physically sign your forms and cannot file online, you would obviously need to have your forms sent to you and then physically FedEx them to the US. That's assuming your accountant doesn't have POA to sign for you.

The other option, if you are planning a trip to the US, is to file for an extension for 6 months and handle everything during your next visit.

Filing a Tax Extension Online:

You can do that online for free via:

TaxAct
Free Forms

Please share any tips or advice you have to make the process easier for any US expats.