Worldwide Income Reporting
US citizens and green card holders must report worldwide income to the IRS regardless of where they live or earn it. This includes wages, self-employment income, investment income, rental income from foreign properties, distributions from foreign retirement accounts, and any other taxable income.
Filing requirement applies regardless of whether you owe US tax. If your foreign income is fully sheltered by exclusions or credits, you still must file Form 1040 each year. Failure to file can result in penalties, interest, and in extreme cases criminal exposure.
Filing deadline for expats living abroad: automatic 2-month extension to June 15 (vs April 15 for US-resident filers). Additional extensions available via Form 4868 (October 15) and possibly Form 2350 for time to qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.
What to file: standard Form 1040 plus various international forms depending on situation. Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion). Form 1116 (Foreign Tax Credit). Form 8938 (Specified Foreign Financial Assets, FATCA). FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR, separate from tax return). Possibly Form 5471 (Information Return of US Person With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations) if you own foreign business interests.
Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE)
Section 911 allows qualifying expats to exclude up to $130,000 (2026, indexed) of foreign earned income from US tax. Qualifying spouses get their own $130,000 exclusion if they also have foreign earned income.
Qualification requires meeting either: (1) Bona Fide Residence test — you're a bona fide resident of a foreign country for an entire tax year, OR (2) Physical Presence test — you're physically present in foreign countries for at least 330 full days during any consecutive 12-month period.
Bona Fide Residence is more flexible but harder to qualify for. Physical Presence is rigid (count days carefully) but easier to demonstrate. Most expats qualify under Physical Presence in their first year and Bona Fide Residence afterwards.
Foreign earned income is income earned for services performed while you're physically present in a foreign country. It does NOT include: investment income, pension income, US government wages, military pay (separate exclusion), or US-source income earned remotely while in a foreign country (controversial but conservative interpretation).
Foreign Housing Exclusion: in addition to FEIE, you can exclude housing costs above 16% of FEIE (about $20,800 in 2026) up to a country-specific limit. This is on top of the $130,000 wage exclusion. Particularly valuable for expats in high-cost cities like London, Tokyo, or Hong Kong.
Foreign Tax Credit (FTC)
Alternative to FEIE: claim a credit for foreign income taxes paid. The FTC is dollar-for-dollar against your US tax liability on the same income. If you paid $30,000 in UK tax and would owe $25,000 in US tax on the same income, the FTC zeros out the US tax (you can't get a refund of foreign taxes paid).
FTC vs FEIE: which is better depends on the foreign tax rate. If the foreign country taxes at a higher rate than the US (UK, France, Germany, most of Western Europe), the FTC fully eliminates US tax and excess foreign tax paid carries forward 10 years. If the foreign country taxes at a lower rate than the US (Singapore, UAE, much of Asia), FEIE is usually better — exclude the income entirely rather than getting partial relief from a credit.
Cannot use FEIE and FTC on the same income. You can use FEIE up to $130K and FTC on income above that. So a $200K expat earning in a high-tax country might exclude $130K under FEIE and use FTC on the remaining $70K.
FTC paperwork: Form 1116 calculates the credit. The credit is limited by the proportion of US tax that would have been owed on the foreign income. So foreign tax above the US-equivalent rate creates 'excess credits' that carry forward 10 years.
Treaty positions: the US has tax treaties with about 65 countries. Treaties can override default rules — providing exemptions for specific income types, tie-breaker rules for residency, and reduced withholding rates on cross-border payments. Expats in treaty countries should review the specific treaty for their country.
FBAR: Foreign Bank Account Reporting
FinCEN Form 114 (commonly called FBAR) requires disclosure of foreign financial accounts where the aggregate balance exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year. This is SEPARATE from your tax return and goes to FinCEN, not the IRS.
Required for: US citizens, green card holders, US residents with foreign signature authority over (or financial interest in) foreign accounts.
What counts as a foreign account: bank accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, retirement accounts (in many cases), insurance policies with cash value, and certain other financial instruments held outside the US.
Threshold: aggregate balance across ALL foreign accounts exceeds $10,000 at any single point during the year. So $5K in a UK bank + $6K in a German bank = $11K aggregate, requiring FBAR. Multiple small accounts can trigger reporting even if no single account is large.
Penalties for non-filing: civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation per year for non-willful failure; up to the greater of $100,000 or 50% of account balance for willful failure. Criminal penalties possible for willful failures. The IRS has been aggressive on FBAR enforcement.
Filing deadline: April 15 with automatic 6-month extension to October 15. Filed electronically via the FinCEN BSA E-Filing System.
FATCA Form 8938
FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) introduced Form 8938 to report 'Specified Foreign Financial Assets.' Filed with your tax return. Different thresholds and scope from FBAR — they're complementary, not duplicative.
Filing thresholds (US-resident filers): single with year-end aggregate >$50K or any-time-during-year >$75K. MFJ: >$100K year-end or >$150K any-time. Higher thresholds for filers living abroad.
What 8938 requires: detailed information about each foreign financial asset including bank accounts, brokerage accounts, foreign retirement accounts, certain insurance contracts, and interests in foreign trusts and businesses.
FATCA also forces foreign financial institutions to report US account holders to the IRS directly. So even if you don't file FBAR or 8938, the IRS often knows about your accounts via the FFI reporting. This makes IRS detection of non-compliance much more likely than pre-FATCA.
Penalties: $10,000 for failure to disclose, increasing $10,000 per 30 days of non-compliance up to $60,000 maximum, plus a 40% accuracy-related penalty on any tax owed. Plus the IRS can assess tax on undisclosed foreign income for any year.
State Tax Issues for Expats
Most states tax based on residency. Establishing non-residency in your former state is critical to avoiding state tax on foreign income. California, New York, and other high-tax states are notably aggressive about asserting continuing residency.
Domicile vs residency: most states use a 'domicile' test (your permanent home) plus a 'statutory residency' test (days physically in the state). Both can apply. California considers you a resident if you maintain domicile there OR spend more than 9 months in California in any tax year.
Establishing non-residency: surrender driver's license, register to vote elsewhere (or stop voting), close in-state bank accounts, sell or rent out the home, change all official addresses, terminate professional licenses requiring residency, document the move with airline tickets, lease agreements at the new location.
Nine no-state-income-tax states (Texas, Florida, Tennessee, etc.) are popular 'tax homes' for expats. Establishing residency in one of these states before moving abroad eliminates state tax on foreign income.
California's Franchise Tax Board has been particularly aggressive about asserting continuing residency for expats who don't fully cut ties. They review credit card spending, family ties, voter registration, and other indicators. A clean break is essential — half-measures often lose at audit.
PFIC: The Foreign Mutual Fund Trap
Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs) are foreign mutual funds, ETFs, or similar pooled investments. The IRS taxes PFICs harshly to discourage Americans from using foreign funds to defer tax.
Default PFIC tax: when you sell a PFIC at a gain or receive a distribution, you owe ordinary income tax (top marginal rate, currently 37%) on the entire gain plus an interest charge for the deferral. This is brutal — losing 37%+ of gains plus interest charges.
Election alternatives: Mark-to-Market (MTM) election treats the PFIC as if you sold it each year, recognizing gains/losses annually as ordinary income. QEF (Qualified Electing Fund) election treats the PFIC like a US partnership, reporting your share of income annually. QEF requires the fund to provide specific information that most foreign funds don't provide.
Practical advice: avoid PFICs. American expats should hold US-domiciled mutual funds and ETFs in their US brokerage accounts, even while living abroad. Foreign brokerage accounts holding foreign funds create PFIC nightmares.
Common PFIC traps: foreign retirement accounts holding mutual funds (Australian Superannuation, UK SIPPs holding UK funds), foreign target-date funds, foreign 'index ETFs' that look like Vanguard but aren't. Always verify the fund's domicile (where it's organized) before purchasing while abroad.