Opinion

From the front line: How a routine Form 3520 filing can easily go (eye-wateringly expensively) wrong – and did

It is perhaps not surprising to hear that non-U.S. (or "foreign") trusts with U.S. owners can be tricky...

July 9, 2019
Opinion
By Gary W. Carter

A renounced ‘accidental’ replies to UK gov’t’s Stride: ‘It’s not that we’re not British, we are – but we're also not really American'

Last week, it was revealed that British Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill had received her second formulaic and non-committal response in two months to specific questions she had asked the UK government on behalf of one of her “accidental American” constituents.

February 19, 2019
Opinion
By Tom Carpenter

American small biz owner in EU: ‘Trump’s made it impossible for expats like me to compete outside the U.S.’

Ever since President Trump unveiled his so-called Tax Cuts and Jobs Act just before Christmas in 2017, tax experts familiar with the complex way American expatriates are taxed have been sounding the alarm about what were initially assumed to be the unintended consequences of that legislation on American small-business owners overseas.

January 10, 2019
Opinion
By Jethro

Learning to speak 'expat'

When the Hollywood version of Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel, Crazy Rich Asians, hit the world's cinemas recently, English-language commentators familiar with the multi-cultural Singaporean dialect took note of the "Singlish" words used in the film – such as "lah", which Singaporeans like to add to the end of a phrase for emphasis.

October 26, 2018
Opinion
By Helen Burggraf

What to expect from Budget Day in the U.K.

Although Brexit continues to dominate the media coverage of U.K. political matters, long-time watchers of the political scene know that before the month is out, the U.K. chancellor, Philip Hammond, will present his budget for the next financial year.

October 16, 2018
Opinion
By Gerry Brown

U.S. passport revocation law comes to Expatland

In 2015, Congress enacted a law that would revoke the passports of U.S. citizens who were “seriously delinquent” on their U.S. taxes. The enforcement threshold was set relatively high, however – at US$50,000 in outstanding tax, interest and penalties. (A provision was included to adjust annually for inflation going forward, so the amount now stands at US$51,000.)