Many U.S. expats are still enjoying the sense that the annual nightmare of getting their American taxes done has come and gone, and they have a few months of peace before they need to begin worrying again. Others still have a few loose ends to tie up, and are keeping an eye on the final deadline for these left-to-complete bits that is moving ever closer by the day. (Monday, Oct. 17, in case you're wondering...)

Recently, a reader of the American Expat Financial News Journal got in touch to say that they were in the process of beginning to plan for Tax Year 2022 – and as part of this, wanted to know what help, if any, they might be able to get from a component of the IRS known as the "Taxpayer Advocate Service".

News that the so-called Inflation Reduction Act has now been signed into law by President Biden has seen a burst of articles and website comments about what the additional US$80 billion in funding that it provides for the Internal Revenue Service could mean for Americans living abroad.

As this and other media organizations have been reporting for years, such expats are already struggling to deal with the myriad tax complications and expenses that go with living abroad as an American citizen, as a result of the combination of the U.S.'s citizenship-based tax regime, and such mostly-recent laws as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. So the prospect of yet more IRS scrutiny has prompted many to worry...

In a surprise announcement that immediately triggered a burst of mostly positive reactions on social media, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday announced that it would be providing "broad-based penalty relief to most people and businesses who file certain 2019 and 2020 [tax] returns late," in an effort to "help struggling taxpayers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic". 

Friday's approval by the House of Representatives of the Inflation Reduction Act had been expected, but this was scant reassurance to many expatriate Americans who, after years of dealing with the taxation complexities that go with living abroad as a result of such laws as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, are wondering if the additional millions of fresh money that the act sets aside for the IRS will mean even more headaches for them. 

A 90-minute webinar for tax professionals, covering a range of some of the most complex topics U.S. expats currently face – including the way the IRS audits Americans abroad, the so-called Section 965 Transition Tax, the "exit tax" paid by wealthy Americans who are seeking to renounce, and other related subjects – will take place this Thursday, beginning at 1pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time (6pm British Summer Time, 7pm Central European Summer Time). 

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a formal reminder to U.S. taxpayers around the world that their 2021 federal income tax returns are due "by Wednesday, June 15"...

A meeting to discuss possible ways of resolving the problem that thousands of so-called "accidental Americans" living in Europe have been having in keeping their EU bank accounts from being closed is scheduled to take place today between officials from the office of the EU Council president and representatives of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

In 2015, just as non-U.S. banks and financial services entities around the world began complying with the U.S. tax evasion prevention law known as FATCA – and in so doing, kicked off a tax-reporting nightmare for U.S. expats that continues – the U.S. Internal Revenue Service closed the last four of its overseas offices, citing an unavoidable need to cut costs... 

The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) this month has published two reports that consider differing aspects of the Internal Revenue Service's recent performance – and has arrived at many of the same conclusions that the National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin M. Collins, did, in her annual report to Congress back in January, on what the IRS needs to do to improve its efficacy. 

The IRS has formally reminded U.S. taxpayers not to ignore a virtual currency question at the top of the tax returns they're currently preparing to file, for the 2021 tax year.