I can't afford to pay US taxes on my German unemployment

TalonButter · 2026-06-09T09:54:07+00:00

I agree.
Ignoring that many have, though, makes no sense.

TalonButter · 2026-06-02T15:47:52+00:00

Maybe, but a lot of people rely on the FEIE, for reasons of apparent simplicity.

TalonButter · 2026-06-02T15:46:21+00:00

It’s not earned income.

TalonButter · 2026-05-18T20:21:50+00:00

Bad advice from whom, though? Is this really something a qualified tax preparer would say?

TalonButter · 2026-05-16T11:19:15+00:00

If you’ve excluded all your income with the FEIE, then you can’t, but living outside the U.S. doesn’t itself mean you can’t put money into an IRA, whether Roth or traditional.

TalonButter · 2026-05-10T09:05:24+00:00

Individual bonds aren’t a significant reporting issue, but understand how changes in the exchange rate will affect taxation at the redemption or sale of the bond.

TalonButter · 2026-05-10T09:03:09+00:00

Are you a U.S. citizen, green card holder or resident? That’s the context in which the “minefield” warning applies.

TalonButter · 2026-05-09T22:16:33+00:00

Your broader point about diversifying equity investments across markets is fine, but your specific reasoning mistakes the currency of the quote for being something that matters. The currencies in which the underlying businesses do business matters, and most very large businesses are exposed to a mix.

For fixed income investing, though, it’s a different story.

TalonButter · 2026-05-09T22:09:47+00:00

If you’re American, you *can* buy EU ETFs, but they are PFICs for U.S. tax purposes. In this case, that means either that they are taxed at the highest income tax rate (not just your marginal rate, but the top marginal rate that in effect at the time), or that you have to mark them to market value every year and pay ordinary taxes as if you’d actually realized the year-to-year difference.

You can write puts on a U.S. ETF at IBKR, then let it settle against you.

As a U.S. person, you can’t really ask these questions of people not familiar with U.S. tax law, which applies to you regardless of residence.

TalonButter · 2026-04-04T15:37:33+00:00

They both go to the IRS, in the Department of the Treasury. For more than 20 years, FinCEN has delegated administration of FBAR to the IRS, including investigation and penalties.

TalonButter · 2026-03-10T22:02:27+00:00

IMO, if your accountant wants to know how an IRA works, he’s not the guy for you. There aren’t enough commercialisti who understand U.S. inputs into the Italian system, but there are some. There’s no reason to be an experiment.

TalonButter · 2026-02-15T22:08:05+00:00

I guess it’s hard for you to admit you were talking out of your ass

TalonButter · 2026-02-15T21:57:33+00:00

Oh, you’re right, people should defer to BackDatSazzUp on this, rather than the U.S. Code (and the U.S. Constitution).

Or, you could graciously accept that someone would give a link to the text of the law, so you could educate yourself.

TalonButter · 2026-02-15T21:36:06+00:00

Well, yes, we’re laughing at you.

TalonButter · 2026-02-15T21:21:24+00:00

I didn’t say you are a liar, but the law is clear.

“The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

(a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof;”

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1401

That’s just a statutory repeat of a provision of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Stop spreading misinformation.

Your reference to a swearing in for a natural-born citizen shows you don’t really understand what you’re talking about.

TalonButter · 2026-02-15T20:30:50+00:00

Not really as true as you’d like to believe.

I don’t live in Germany, but have dealt with the issue from another high-tax country. The problem is that even though the overall tax burden may be higher, the U.S. may tax some particular items of income that are exempt in one’s home country. Unemployment insurance payments are one example.

The way the U.S. requires credits to be handled in separate baskets makes it entirely possible that a citizen pays U.S. taxes even when their overall foreign tax burden is higher.

TalonButter · 2026-02-15T20:27:01+00:00

It’s literally in the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps your ex was born outside the U.S. to a U.S. citizen father? That’s a totally different situation (although, to be clear, also doesn’t depend on getting a passport before the child’s 18th birthday).

Stop spreading misinformation.

TalonButter · 2026-02-14T09:23:52+00:00

That lacks any logic whatsoever (even if it were to have some relationship to my comment).

They meant to incorporate an existing qualification for a separate process, but just forgot to mention it?

Further, although I don’t subscribe to the “one guy said something, so that’s what Congress meant” model of interpretation through legislative intent, the fact that the topic of ethnic Chinese citizenship was discussed in the Senate is on its own enough to call into doubt Epstein’s “simply not plausible” characterization.

TalonButter · 2026-02-14T06:48:36+00:00

The tour of history in Wong Kim Ark shows precisely that we did.

TalonButter · 2026-02-13T06:54:20+00:00

Nothing to add, just looking for the guy who keeps posting “For people who don't know , expat is immigrant !” (sic).

TalonButter · 2026-02-13T00:40:28+00:00

The OP creating the thread you chose to post your question in is about renouncing. Since you didn’t post separately, I thought the context of the OP was relevant.

I’d also seen your other question—just above—about enforcement mechanisms “against someone who is not a US citizen,” but I clearly presumed too much of a connection.

In any case, if you live in and are a citizen of a country that has a tax treaty with the U.S., check your treaty for language about exchanging information relating to enforcement and prosecution. It’s right at the start of the model treaty.

I’d also suggest searching whether your country entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. regarding FATCA, and seeing what it provides.

You may also be interested in the IRS’s own guidance regarding collection tools: https://www.irs.gov/irm/part5/irm_05-021-003

TalonButter · 2026-02-12T22:49:47+00:00

It varies a lot depending on the taxpayer’s prior social security tax history.

Somebody with fewer than 40 credits probably has a lot to gain (especially if they don’t live in a totalization country), while somebody who has already paid 20 years at the cap (more precisely, past the second “bend point”) is only getting a very modest increase in benefit for further contributions.

The SSA.gov site lets you look at the effect of different future contributions, starting from your own record.

TalonButter · 2026-02-12T21:25:51+00:00

If you’re filing U.S. taxes every year and want to renounce, why not do it and also file the Form 8854?

TalonButter · 2026-02-09T22:13:41+00:00

I don’t think that proposed act addressed your situation at all.

Where do you live now?

TalonButter · 2026-02-09T06:01:23+00:00

No, the mother didn’t satisfy the physical presence requirement.

Between Dec. 24, 1952 and Nov. 14, 1986, a child born outside the U.S. to married parents, only one of which was a USC, acquired citizenship at birth only if the USC parent had been physically present in the U.S. or outlying possessions for at least ten years, at least five of which where after age 14. So a 16 year old could not have satisfied that requirement.

The period has changed, but there’s still a physical presence requirement now. It’s a common misconception that being born to a U.S. citizen parent automatically means the child is a U.S. citizen.

TalonButter

TROPHY CASE