christophe
New member
Looking for some advice here as I think my situation is a bit more unique than most people who just live abroad.
I'm in my early 40s, and have 3 citizenships: US, UK, Australia. Have been outside of the US for about 15 years, married and live currently in Australia. I've always filed tax in the most basic way by claiming foreign tax exclusion as I was at or above the threshold but able to claim expenses to drop under, and this was fine for a long time.
However I'm now exceeding the foreign exclusion threshold and have recently only found out about claiming foreign tax credit. Really wish it was more common advice to claim this as long term it's far more beneficial.
Have been living in Australia for about 5 years and as such have a superannuation. I've never contributed more than the required amount by my employer (10%). I had no idea that this needed to be claimed as income on my US taxes and put into the FBAR form every year. This is all new information to me.
So here's my question, ethical or not. I've never used my US passport for anything in Australia. Entered and gained citizenship through my UK passport. So all accounts and superannuation were setup this way. How likely is it that my superannuation accounts would be reported to the IRS? I have a real issue reporting income sent to a retirement pension and paying tax on this back to the US where I haven't lived in 15 years.
Renouncing citizenship seems like one option for me as I already have 2 other passports. I'd really like to avoid that route though. Does anyone else have experience with a situation similar to mine? Have you claimed superannuation on your taxes, or had an questions asked about it? Does foreign tax credit help offset this enough to avoid additional tax?
Additional question. How do long term expats save for retirement without a huge tax mess in the US? The older I get the more this becomes a very stressful situation.
Many thanks!
I'm in my early 40s, and have 3 citizenships: US, UK, Australia. Have been outside of the US for about 15 years, married and live currently in Australia. I've always filed tax in the most basic way by claiming foreign tax exclusion as I was at or above the threshold but able to claim expenses to drop under, and this was fine for a long time.
However I'm now exceeding the foreign exclusion threshold and have recently only found out about claiming foreign tax credit. Really wish it was more common advice to claim this as long term it's far more beneficial.
Have been living in Australia for about 5 years and as such have a superannuation. I've never contributed more than the required amount by my employer (10%). I had no idea that this needed to be claimed as income on my US taxes and put into the FBAR form every year. This is all new information to me.
So here's my question, ethical or not. I've never used my US passport for anything in Australia. Entered and gained citizenship through my UK passport. So all accounts and superannuation were setup this way. How likely is it that my superannuation accounts would be reported to the IRS? I have a real issue reporting income sent to a retirement pension and paying tax on this back to the US where I haven't lived in 15 years.
Renouncing citizenship seems like one option for me as I already have 2 other passports. I'd really like to avoid that route though. Does anyone else have experience with a situation similar to mine? Have you claimed superannuation on your taxes, or had an questions asked about it? Does foreign tax credit help offset this enough to avoid additional tax?
Additional question. How do long term expats save for retirement without a huge tax mess in the US? The older I get the more this becomes a very stressful situation.
Many thanks!