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Rules for Claiming the Child Tax Credit Here’s some good news for parents of children under age of 17: they’ll save you money at tax time. The Child Tax Credit, which can be worth as much as $1,000 per qualifying child depending upon a parent’s income, was made...

Do I need to file Form 8938, “Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets”? Certain U.S. taxpayers holding specified foreign financial assets with an aggregate value exceeding $50,000 will report information about those assets on new Form 8938, which must be...

 Eight Smart Year-End Tax Moves While the April 15 income tax filing deadline is dubbed “Tax Day,” there is another very important deadline taxpayers need to keep in mind. Each year, the U.S. tax code changes, and many financial moves necessary to minimize your tax...

My funds in the US or in Spain? Were you with Merrill Lynch until last year? If you are finding difficulties with your investments as an American resident in Spain, because of the new FATCA regulations, or if you simply want to access a very efficient and low-cost US...

Asunto: Message for U.S. Citizens:U.S. Embassy Madrid Taxpayer and U.S. Citizen Assistance Day  Embassy of the United States of America Madrid, Spain Madrid Taxpayer and U.S. Citizen Assistance Day Wednesday, March 5, 2014 The U.S. Embassy will host a Taxpayer and...

Anyone moving to Spain or currently tax resident in the country needs to know that at the end of 2012 the Spanish Government launched a new initiative to ensure that it was no longer possible to hold assets offshore without disclosing their existence to the tax...

Are you a nonfiler? What can you do? We receive one or two phone calls per week from ordinary Americans living in Spain, telling us that they have not filed US taxes with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) since they arrived here. They are normal families, with work...

On January 2, 2013 President Barack Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Passage of this Act averted the so-called “fiscal cliff” and made “permanent” changes to the tax code. As with all Congressional legislation, however, no change is...

Here are some of the things U.S. Citizens need to keep in mind when filing out the 1040 every year. Do any of these apply to you? Form 1040  This must include your worldwide income. We can use the foreign earned income exclusion Form 2555. However, it must be...

Earlier this year, Congressional haggling delayed the start of tax season. Now, the Internal Revenue Service says the recent government shutdown means the 2014 season will also start late with the delay estimated to be from one to two weeks.  

All of us procrastinate. But some take things to dangerous extremes – putting off the filing of tax returns for a few years, or even many years. According to the IRS, each year some ten million people fail to file their tax returns. Non-filers, as the IRS calls them,...

Can I issue invoices even if I am not registered as self-employed (Autónomo)? This is the question many people ask when they decide to work on their own: in some cases the work is sporadic; in others, it is upon starting a new economic activity and you do not know how...

The amount of financial information to be shared between EU countries will significantly increase over the next years. As part of its intensified fight against tax evasion, the European Commission has proposed extending the automatic exchange of information between EU...

FATCA – short for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – is a US law aimed at tackling offshore tax evasion. The law affects all US taxpayers, not just those living overseas. To comply with FATCA, all taxpayers holding accounts with foreign financial institutions...

IRPF: modelo 100 para residentes, Modelo 150 para NO residentes. El año pasado un trabajador mantenía la condición de no residente (estuvo en España menos de 183 días) por lo que tendrá que presentar antes de finales de junio el modelo 150 con una retención del...

The United States taxes its citizens and its resident aliens on their worldwide income. U.S. taxpayers are required to report their foreign income on their U.S. income tax return. They must also file and answer a series of questions on Schedule B to their U.S. income...

Chasing down the fat cats In 2010, the US Congress adopted a piece of legislation called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to fight offshore tax evasion by its own citizens. The acronym seems a wry nod to President Barack Obama’s frequent denunciations of...

  Legislation allowing for the sharing of American citizens’ bank data will go before the Swiss parliament next month. It seemingly spells the end of prized Swiss banking secrecy, although lawmakers say it is far from a done deal. Recent weeks have seen an...

The Internal Revenue Service believes that there are millions of Americans who have failed to file FBARs; short for Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. Taxpayers with offshore holdings of $10,000 or more are required to report those holdings to the IRS. The...