International U.S. tax compliance for foreign accounts, foreign entities, treaty positions, and cross-border reporting forms.
International tax is the area most preparers avoid. Tajma specialized in it for over a decade at Plante Moran, Grant Thornton, and Dean Dorton — the same technical work that Fortune 100 companies paid those firms to do, now available directly to individuals and small businesses.
Foreign bank accounts, brokerage accounts, pension accounts, or investment accounts over $10,000 aggregate trigger FBAR filing. Values over $50,000–$200,000 trigger Form 8938 (FATCA). Both need to line up with your tax return.
You still owe U.S. tax returns regardless of where you live. FEIE, foreign tax credit, FBAR, totalization agreements, and state-residency questions all apply.
Form 5471 (foreign corporations), Form 8865 (foreign partnerships), Subpart F income, GILTI inclusions, and basis tracking across borders.
Form 3520 reporting for gifts or inheritances over $100,000 from foreign persons, and Form 3520-A for foreign trust reporting.
First-year elections, closer-connection exceptions, residency-starting-date planning, and treaty-based return positions done correctly.
Your client relationship stays with you; I handle the international technical work under your engagement as a subcontractor or referral.
International compliance work is coordinated with your full U.S. return — the foreign forms don't live in isolation. Penalties for late or missed international filings can reach $10,000 per form per year, so sequencing and documentation quality matter.
U.S. filings only. I do not prepare Canadian returns, UK self-assessments, or other non-U.S. country returns. When coordination with a foreign advisor is needed, I work directly with your local preparer so your U.S. return aligns with what you file abroad.
Engagements are typically quoted at $1,500–$5,000 depending on the number of international forms involved and whether prior-year cleanup is needed. Streamlined filings are quoted separately based on delinquent-year count.
Yes. The U.S. is one of only two countries that taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of residence. If you're a U.S. citizen or green card holder, you file a U.S. return every year you're over the filing threshold — whether you live in Chicago, Barcelona, or Tokyo. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) and Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) usually eliminate double taxation, but the return still has to be filed.
FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15. It's filed separately from your tax return through the BSA e-filing system. It reports foreign financial accounts if the aggregate balance crossed $10,000 at any point during the year — even for one day. Missing the filing carries penalties starting at $10,000 per violation and reaching much higher for willful violations.
This is what the IRS Streamlined Filing Procedures are designed for. If your failure to file was non-willful (you genuinely didn't know), you can come into compliance by filing the last three years of tax returns and six years of FBARs under the Streamlined program, with substantially reduced or zero penalties. It requires a clear non-willfulness certification and careful sequencing. I handle these cases regularly.
Possibly, if you own 10% or more of a foreign corporation directly or indirectly. There are five filer categories with different reporting requirements, and determining your category requires tracing the ownership structure carefully. Penalties start at $10,000 per form per year for late or missing filings, so getting this right matters. See the Form 5471 Help page for the engagement scope.
GILTI stands for Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income. If you're a U.S. shareholder of a Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) — generally, a foreign company where U.S. persons own more than 50% — you may have current-year income inclusion on your U.S. return for your share of the CFC's earnings, even if no cash was distributed. A Section 962 election can sometimes reduce the tax impact significantly. Analysis is case-specific and starts with a review of the entity structure.
Generally no — the U.S. does not tax gift recipients on gifts received. But if the gift or inheritance from a foreign person (or estate) exceeds $100,000 in a year, you must file Form 3520 to report it, even though no tax is owed. Failure to file the information return carries penalties of up to 25% of the gift amount, so this is purely a reporting issue but a high-stakes one.
You can use both, but not on the same income. The FEIE excludes up to roughly $126,500 (2024 level, indexed for inflation) of foreign earned income from U.S. tax. The Foreign Tax Credit applies to income not excluded under FEIE — typically passive income, investment income, or earned income above the FEIE cap. Which combination is most tax-efficient depends on your total income, the foreign tax rate, and your filing structure.
Regularly. For cross-border cases involving dual filing (Canada/U.S., UK/U.S., etc.), I coordinate directly with your local tax advisor so that foreign tax credits, treaty positions, and residency determinations align correctly across both returns. I do not prepare the non-U.S. returns myself.
Standard cross-border individual returns run 3–6 weeks from document receipt to filed return. Streamlined compliance filings (catching up on delinquent years) typically run 6–10 weeks because of the six-year FBAR window and certification requirements. Complex entity structures with Form 5471 or 8865 can run 4–8 weeks depending on records quality.
Book a free 30-minute consultation. We'll identify which forms apply, what the penalty exposure looks like, and how the engagement would work.
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