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...

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.