I'm not technically allowed to give tax adv

I'm not technically allowed to give tax advice because I am not a licensed accountant, CPA, or tax attorney but I can comment that there are some generally well-known schemes.
 
For Americans, the bottom line is we're required to pay taxes on worldwide income regardless of where we live or for how long we lived there. You can move out of America and for never come back, but you still have to pay taxes. You still have to declare your taxes in America and pay whatever you owe.
 
This is not the case for other countries.  In Spain, for example, if people want to change their tax domicile to a different country, they can do that. They wouldn't have to pay taxes and fees anymore. It's not like that in America. A lot of people think if they leave America that they don't have to pay taxes but that’s not true. You definitely need to hire a licensed person to look at your exact situation and give you advice. There are a lot of expats who are accountants out there. Qualified tax advice for expats is definitely something that's becoming more in demand as more people move and technology gets better and becomes easier and cheaper for people to travel and move around.
 
For US citizens, there’s also an income tax exclusion.  Over the years it has increased to now it’s over $100,000 per year.  There are a few different ways to qualify for it. One of the ways that people talk about it a lot is being outside of the country for 330 days a year. There are other ways to qualify for it. Any accountant who deals with these international matters would know.
 
Another thing to be aware of is that you have to declare your accounts. It's a pretty big topic. It's very complex and our tax code is very complex. There's a lot to think about. For this reason, I have never done my taxes on my own. It just gets complicated especially if you're living and working in more than one country. 
 
There are, perhaps, ways to reduce your US tax liability.  I know of a lot people who didn’t even file their taxes for 3 years or 5 years. Make sure you're on top of it so that you don't run into any sort of problems or penalties or things like that down the road. It's better to be upset about filing and paying now and get through it the right way than to avoid it and just assume that you don't have to pay anything and get in trouble later.

 

(Pictured: Kristin Wilson working in Costa Rica in a hammock.)