Americans Abroad

Americans abroad must continue to file tax returns, as we are taxed on our worldwide incomes. If you are being taxed by a foreign country, you can claim a wide number of tax exemptions, deductions, and credits that will usually reduce your taxes to a very small figure. However, some things are tax-free in America and taxable in the other country, and vice versa. This can result is an unfair significant additional tax burden. With careful advance planning of your major economic decisions, most of the time these problems can be averted. 

We do this in part by helping you to understand your tax position. An hour’s worth of personal consultation is included in your annual fee. This can be taken through short emails and calls throughout the year, or all at once in an annual meeting. Advice beyond the annual hour will be charged out at our hourly rates.

Some areas you may wish to discuss include estate and inheritance tax issues and other long-range tax planning opportunities. You may wish to review your pension planning options to take advantage of the US/UK tax treaty. If your employment includes a significant stakehold in a company, we can provide advice to help you choose the most tax-efficient remuneration scheme, along with any additional compliance needs that may be generated by your decision.

If you’ve only just moved away from the US, you will be happy to know that the IRS has many special deductions for being abroad. We may need to file your US tax returns as late as January 2006 in order to claim these deductions for tax year 2004. Special extensions are required to allow the extra time to file, but these do not pardon you from paying your full balance due on 15 April 2005. Therefore, you should be sure to pay enough tax by 15 April 2005 (or as soon as possible thereafter) so that you do not incur unnecessary interest or penalties. 

Why Choose British American Tax?

We are available until 6 p.m. for UK clients

We provide newsletters, articles, and tax memos to offer ideas that are of use to you.

We are able to provide business contacts in other areas through our network

We tax plan BEFORE the tax year end, not afterwards

We provide a fixed fee or ceiling fee for most work

We invoice and accept payment in sterling or US dollars

We are proactive and work with clients to provide cost effective solutions

We work alongside your other professional advisors