The Tax Times: No Relief Expected for US Citizens Living Abroad

Monday, January 7, 2019

No Relief Expected for US Citizens Living Abroad

According to Moodys Gartner, in the middle of the perfect storm on Capitol Hill created by the change in control of the House of Representatives back to the Democratic party, the government shutdown, and President Trump’s border wall funding demands, a bill was introduced on December 20, 2018 that would “amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an alternative exclusion for nonresident citizens of the United States living abroad.”

Specifically, H.R. 7358 (the “Tax Fairness for Americans Abroad Act of 2018” or “the Bill”) seeks to essentially replace the current citizenship-based taxation system with a more residence-based taxation system for “qualified nonresident” U.S. citizens. While many dual citizens or U.S. citizens residing in Canada may meet the proposed definition of “qualified nonresident citizen” under the Bill – more on this below – it might be helpful to first put the Bill in historical context to understand the likelihood of such ground-breaking legislation becoming U.S. law.

The likelihood of the Bill getting any attention in 2019 by the Democrats is slim given their expected legislative agenda and proposed oversight investigations on President Trump.

For US citizens living abroad who are not compliant with their US tax affairs, we would strongly urge such people not to rest easy and assume that this proposed bill will provide them with an easy answer.

Noncompliant Americans living abroad should consult with experienced Tax Attorneys to help them get right with the IRS, while there are still "Programs" to help them file delinquent tax returns, without any tax penalties for non-US Domiciliary's.

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