Taxaholic Countries for Expats to Avoid

As if taxaholic France wasn't already in the news for the departure of Gerard Depardieu for more welcoming Russia, now comes a whopper!  More than 8,000 French households got tax bills for 2012 - dunned for taxes which exceed their income for the entire year.  Expect more departures from the no-longer-so-belle France.

We've mentioned countries with no personal income taxes.  Here's some horrible news about the EU: very few countries in the world tax like the EU.  Only Aruba, US, and Japan can rival Euro-kleptocrats. 

EU's worst:
Hungary - 59.4%
Belgium - 58.5
France - 56.4 (except for some, income taxes exceed 100% of income)
Germany - 54.6
Austria - 52.2
Netherlands - 50.2
Sweden - 49.4
Romania - 48.6
Italy - 46.0
Denmark - 45.7
Slovakia - 45.5
Lithuania - 45.4
Finland - 45.2

Only Cyprus (19.4%) and Malta (26.8%) have tax rates below 30%.  As we've all heard and read, Cyprus is broke, so it simply confiscated people's bank accounts.  That's Tax with a Capital T-plus!

What to do if your employer transfers you to one of these on an expat contract?  Try to find an alternative!  What if you're a citizen?  Do you want to be a milk cow for taxaholics?  Or do you want to enjoy the PT life?  You have a very potent incentive to be a non-resident citizen if you're from an EU country.

Think the grass is greener on the US side of the border?  People tend to think it "looks good" because charts like these only consider federal income taxes.  For the US, you have to add Social Security (FICA) and Medicare, which take another 7.65% from the first dollar you earn.  There's the new Medicare surcharge on top of that for those with higher-level incomes.  Don't forget state income taxes, which vary considerably.  Add it all up, and the US can turn out to the be the Ultimate Taxaholic for a lot of taxpayers.

If you are a US person (which includes more than citizens and legal permanent residents and workers on visas), non-resident status is no cure.  There's the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, a small help to some.

Planning your travels, planning your expat-life, planning retirement relocation?  Whatever you do and wherever you go, tax planning must be a major consideration in the decision-making process for every Road Warrioress.

So, where are you headed?  What works well for you?  Share your thoughts.  We'd all love to hear them.

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann

US Expats & PTs Beware: June 30th Deadline for FBAR

Expats and PTs are not the only ones who need to beware the dread FBAR report!  If you have any financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly to the Internal Revenue Service by filing Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).

United States persons are required to file an FBAR if:

1. The United States person had a financial interest in or signature authority over at least one financial account located outside of the United States; and
2. The aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year to be reported.

United States person means United States citizens; United States residents; entities, including but not limited to, corporations, partnerships, or limited liability companies created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States; and trusts or estates formed under the laws of the United States.

Exceptions to the FBAR reporting requirements can be found in the FBAR instructions. There are filing exceptions for the following United States persons or foreign financial accounts:

1. Certain foreign financial accounts jointly owned by spouses;
2. United States persons included in a consolidated FBAR;
3. Correspondent/nostro accounts;
4. Foreign financial accounts owned by a governmental entity;
5. Foreign financial accounts owned by an international financial institution;
6. IRA owners and beneficiaries;
7. Participants in and beneficiaries of tax-qualified retirement plans;
8. Certain individuals with signature authority over but no financial interest in a foreign financial account;
9. Trust beneficiaries; and
10. Foreign financial accounts maintained on a United States military banking facility.

Look to the FBAR instructions to determine eligibility for an exception and to review exception requirements.

A person who holds a foreign financial account may have a reporting obligation even though the account produces no taxable income. Checking the appropriate block on FBAR-related federal tax return or information return questions (for example, on Schedule B of Form 1040, the "Other Information" section of Form 1041, Schedule B of Form 1065, and Schedule N of Form 1120) and filing the FBAR, satisfies the account holder's reporting obligation.

The FBAR is not filed with the filer's federal income tax return. The granting by the IRS of an extension to file federal income tax returns does not extend the due date for filing an FBAR. You may not request an extension for filing the FBAR. The FBAR must be received by the IRS on or before June 30 of the year following the calendar year being reported.  File by mailing the FBAR to:

United States Department of the Treasury

P.O. Box 32621

Detroit, MI 48232-0621

If an express delivery service is used, file by mailing to:

IRS Enterprise Computing Center

ATTN: CTR Operations Mailroom, 4th Floor

985 Michigan Avenue

Detroit, MI 48226

Delivery messenger service contact telephone number: (313) 234-1062

Account holders who do not comply with the FBAR reporting requirements may be subject to civil penalties, criminal penalties, or both. 

On July 18, 2011, FinCEN announced that it has developed an electronic filing system that will accept the FBAR form.  E-filing is a quick and secure way for individuals to file FBARs.  Filers will receive an acknowledgement of each submission.  For more information about FBAR e-filing, read the FinCEN news release.

For more info from the IRS (in exceptionally byzantine fashion) see: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=148849,00.html.  Note that the IRS is targeting expats and PTs in particular in search of your foreign bank and other accounts.  But all "US persons" with foreign bank accounts and other financial interests abroad are subject to FBAR.