Form 3520: US Taxes on Gifts and Inheritances
You’ve probably heard the expression that the only two things certain in life are Death and Taxes. The United States’ Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) works very hard at making the second item in that short list true, especially for expats and US foreign...
Offshore Life Insurance: the Last “Tax Shelter” for US Citizens
Dateline: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia When it comes to taxes, US citizens get a raw deal. Not only do they have to pay tax on their worldwide income, but they have to pay it regardless of whether or not they actually live there. Aside from a bit of foreign earned income...
Form 8833: How to Claim Income Tax Treaty Benefits
FSay you’re a six- or seven-figure US-based entrepreneur who’s recently brought their business abroad. You find yourself traveling weeks at a time to tend to those businesses, and in the past couple of years, you’ve traveled so many days that you’ve ended...
The Tax Consequences of Renouncing US Citizenship
Dateline: Tbilisi, Georgia December 20, 2017. I was sitting in my living room in Tbilisi, talking with my CFO, and making a number of calculations. What was I doing? I was preparing for the next day when I would go to the US Embassy to renounce my US citizenship. Why...
Non-US Spouse: Tax Strategies for US Expats Married to Non-US Citizens
Dateline: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia For most people who meet the love of their life overseas, taxes are probably the last thing on their mind. But Nomad Capitalists are not most people. You already know that taxes for expats are complicated enough as they are, but US...
How to prepare for taxes under a Bernie Sanders presidency
Dateline: Tbilisi, Georgia Twelve years ago when the war in Iraq was just getting underway and Republicans were dodging accusations that it was a “war for oil”, I cynically suggested that if gasoline prices were to become high enough, the American body...
How a tax-free island broke an ancient curse and found prosperity
Dateline: Langkawi, Malaysia In the fourteenth century, a young girl is said to have moved to Langkawi Island with her parents, in search of greater economic prosperity and a better life. The girl’s name was Mahsuri, and as she got older, she turned out to be a...
Death of the West: This is why the western world is doomed
Dateline: Makati, Philippines In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell describes an important difference between the business-minded, Confucian culture of the Chinese, and the more “freedom”-minded American culture. Surely, Americans are, by nature, rather...
Offshore Company: How a Foreign Corporation can Reduce Taxes
START AN OFFSHORE COMPANY An offshore company can lower your taxes and protect your assets. START AN OFFSHORE COMPANY TODAYOffshore company can lower your taxes and protect your assets You’ve burnt the candle at both ends all year. You’ve sacrificed ‘you...
Overregulation, crony capitalism, and the death of the free market
Reporting from: Phnom Penh, Cambodia One of my favorite stories about starting a business overseas – in a frontier market, in this instance – is from Chris Tell. It goes like this: let’s say you want to open a bakery. In the western world,...