Do Americans Living Overseas Need to File Taxes Back Home?

Every tax season, which starts at the end of January, around 140 million people need to file their taxes with the IRS, and this includes Americans living overseas. 

Even if these Americans haven't visited the U.S. in years, they are still required to report their income from all over the world to the IRS.

The IRS says that if you're an American or a permanent resident staying abroad, you have to file tax returns and pay any estimated taxes just like people living in the States. Unlike many countries that only tax income earned within their borders, the U.S. taxes its citizens on their global income.
 

What Happens If You Don't File?

Not filing your taxes can lead to penalties, interest charges, and even legal trouble. The only way out of this obligation is to give up your U.S. citizenship.

So, even if you earn all your money from another country and haven't been to the U.S. for a long while, you still have to file a U.S. tax return.
 

Tax Filing for Americans Abroad

All income, whether it's in money, goods, property, or services, that isn't exempt from tax, must be reported. And if you have foreign bank or financial accounts that exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year, you must report these too through the FinCEN 114 Report.

However, if your foreign assets are in a U.S. military bank or the total didn't go over $10,000 throughout the year, you don't need to do this reporting.

Although due to tax treaties and benefits for expatriates, many Americans living overseas might not owe any taxes, they're still required to file a tax return every year.

For those who've fallen behind, there's an IRS amnesty program that lets them catch up by filing just the last three years of returns, providing a way to become compliant without too serious penalties.
 

TL;DR

In summary, if you're an American living abroad, remember that filing your U.S. taxes is a requirement that you cannot skip, but there may be programs and treaties that can help lessen or eliminate what you owe.

Read more about the 2025 tax season in this article.

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