Expat Focus Newsletter, April 2018

While living abroad can be the experience of a lifetime, unfortunately American expats are still required to file US taxes from abroad, reporting their worldwide income, often as well as filing foreign taxes in the country where they live (depending on the tax filing rules there). Expats have to file US taxes because the US tax system is based on citizenship, rather than on residence. Citizenship based taxation in the US dates back to the Civil War, however it is only since the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA, a response to the global financial crisis), that Uncle Sam has had the ability to enforce expats having to file. Thankfully, although expats must always file to avoid penalties, most don’t end up owing any US taxes.

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Has Brexit put you off the idea of moving overseas, or even just buying a property abroad? Whether you’re seeking a ski chalet for extended visits to France, want to make a permanent move to Australia, or are still weighing up your options, you might have plenty of questions about what Brexit means for your move abroad. We’re going to consider Brexit progress so far and look at what could happen to British buyers looking to invest in a new life overseas, both before and after Brexit. Before Brexit - What’s Happening Next? At the minute, the UK is waiting for trade talks to begin at the end of March (22nd-23rd). It’s fair to say that since the EU referendum in June 2016, little progress has seemingly taken place. It took a substantial amount of time to make any agreements before Christmas to move talks on to trade, and even then, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said that the next round of trade talks might take longer and be even more arduous.

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What was your biggest struggle when you moved to your new country? For Melanie Aronson, an American in Sweden, it was overcoming this unexpectedly deep sense of loneliness. She felt it so strongly, she decided to make a friend-finding app called Panion to help others who were feeling the same way she was. Keep listening to hear all about Panion, and Melanie’s experiences in Sweden. Carlie: Hey there, it’s Carlie with the Expat Focus podcast. What was your biggest struggle when you moved to your new country? For Melanie Aronson, an American in Sweden, it was overcoming this unexpectedly deep sense of loneliness. She felt it so strongly, she decided to make a friend-finding app called Panion to help others who were feeling the same way she was. Keep listening to hear all about Panion, and Melanie’s experiences in Sweden. You’ve lived abroad a few times in your life. Tell me about what led you to move to Sweden. Melanie: Yeah, so I have lived in Spain and Italy.

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If you are facing the prospect of starting expat life in your 40s, or indeed moving to another new country, you may be asking yourself how you will meet new people and friends. Indeed, worries of these nature are inevitable in this situation. You might feel that this will be harder for you than some of your counterparts. After all, if you have children, it’s not likely that you’ll be hitting all the local bars on a regular basis. You may begrudge the twenty-somethings expats, assuming that they find it much easier to meet new people, but that doesn’t have to be the case!There are plenty of options available to you to meet new people and forge strong friendships that will make your time as an expat thoroughly enjoyable. We’ve created a guide that can give you a helping hand if you’re stuck for ideas on how to meet new people, socialize, and make new friends in your chosen country. Gyms And Health Spas Consider getting a membership for your local gym or health spa.

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Ah, April… The month when spring starts to feel properly sprung. Gardens shake off the winter blues and come back to life, and lambs gambol around in the dew-strewn paddocks. At least that’s the storybook version; the grown-ups in the real world are often too busy stressing about tax returns to appreciate the wonders of nature!Tax returns are especially problematic for expats, who must balance the requirements of two tax jurisdictions, often requiring twice as much paperwork and double the threats of penalties or imprisonment for inaccurate reporting. By far the most stressed people on earth ahead of the tax deadline are American expats. We’ve written before about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) of 2010. This is an unwelcome piece of legislation that enabled the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to require each and every US citizen to submit a tax return.

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Here in the UK, the subject of equality in the workplace is weekly headline. Whether the talk is of gender pay gaps at the BBC or retailers failing to promote women into management role, it’s a sad fact the glass ceiling has yet to be truly smashed. If this is the case in the UK, where British and EU law supposedly guarantee equal opportunities, how do other countries around the world compare? One new study lists the top ten countries for working expat women.Other headline stories in recent months have celebrated progress in Saudi Arabia. Although the desert nation has a long way to go in reforming its conservative views, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been proactive in supporting change. Women are no longer prohibited from driving, and businesses are adapting their policies to employing female staff. While this is great news for the women of Saudi Arabia, it does put a squeeze on opportunities for expats in a country where foreign women find it particularly tough...

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There’s a multitude of reasons why you would need to renew your UK passport while you’re overseas. You may currently live far from home, or work in a remote area, and don’t want to travel all the way back to the UK to renew your passport. Although we hope this isn’t the case, it could be that your passport has been lost, stolen or damaged. Perhaps you travel a lot and have run out of blank pages ahead of your passport expiry date, or you’re nearing the end of a specified length of validity for your current country.Whatever the reason, the process to get yourself a new passport as quickly as possible may not be as complicated as you fear. Sure, there are a few exceptions to this rule that may have you jumping through hoops, but on the whole, it should be a fairly straightforward process. We’ve put together this guide on to give you an outline of everything you need to know. When can I renew my current passport? You can renew your passport at any time.

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Remote working has definitely hit the mainstream … and around the world, more and more people are taking the opportunity to be ‘temporary locals.’ Combining their jobs with longer-term travel, staying in one country for a month, or a few months at a time. Longer than the typical annual holiday allowance. But how do longer stints abroad – when you’re working – impact your tax situation? Today on the show, Oliver Heslop joins me again. He’s the owner of GETS – Global Expatriate Tax Services, based in the UK. But he works with tax experts all over the world. He’s going to talk through some things to consider if you’re living the digital nomad life. I should point out, Oliver’s not giving any specific advice in this episode, but you can ask him directly if you have a burning question; just go to the ‘financial’ tab at expatfocus.com and then click ‘UK tax advice.’ Carlie: Hey there it’s Carlie with the Expat Focus podcast.

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Nothing signals culture shock quite like a language barrier. Touching down at your destination, tired and lost, being confronted by grumpy officials barking orders you can’t understand and pointing to forms covered in unrecognisable text can provoke anxiety.Even if your new job will operate in your mother tongue, living overseas will usually involve a certain amount of immersion in a foreign language. For many expats it is a case of sink or swim, picking up essential phrases as they go along. Newly arrived expats will survive their first days in a whirlwind of tasks and administration, but over time this wears off, giving rise to more personal problems. Without the ability to chat freely, expats can feel very isolated. Being far from friends or family, adjusting to a new job in a new culture can be a cause for both excitement and nerves. Without the ability to chat and share even the simplest interaction, expats can quickly find themselves feeling isolated and lonely.

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Increasingly risky expat assignments lead to demand for advice Employers who are sending expat employees to risky locations are increasingly demanding that their international private medical insurance provider helps meet their duty of care requirements, HR professionals say. Research from Collinson Group, a global insurance and assistance provider, says that 23% of HR professionals they questioned say their organisation is increasingly sending staff to pursue opportunities in emerging economies such as Russia and China.There's also growth in sending employees on international assignments to other territories including Argentina and Nigeria where the destinations are regarded as being of a higher risk for a variety of reasons by insurers. These reasons include the potential for civil unrest, natural disasters and a higher risk of terrorism. Now, many employers are demanding that their iPMI provider delivers more security and travel advice.

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