Expat taxes don't have to hurt
Taxes are always a pain, but dealing with the maze of expat taxes, especially with uncommon situations like business and investments, takes the confusion to a whole new level.
Having filed my taxes for the last few years, I initially thought I would do the same when I moved abroad. After all, how complicated could it be?
Turns out, it's really, really complicated.
Every country has a different 'agreement' with the U.S., which affects how you file, and many of the rules for expat taxes are extremely confusing - at least to a layman like myself. Foreign income exclusion or Foreign Tax Credit? Housing deduction? Do business expenses work the same outside of the U.S. (some do, some don't)? Miss an obscure form for a foreign bank account, and wham, you are in big, big trouble with Uncle Sam.
Worse yet, unlike normal taxes, there's very little information online, especially for uncommon situations in specific countries.
Taxes are one of those things you really, really don't want to mess up, so I tried asking several local (U.S.) tax prep professionals. None of them had experience with expat taxes, let alone knowledge of specific countries.
I then realized that I needed an expat-specific tax prep company, and saw many people recommend Tax Samaritan during my research.
They weren't the cheapest, but also not the most expensive. My main goal was to work with a company that specialized in expat taxes, so I was willing to pay a premium for their experience. After some hemming and hawing, I decided to give them a try.
Now, to be upfront, the experience was not exactly what I was initially expecting.
Unlike your friendly neighborhood accountant who sits with you and asks endless questions that you may or may not know the answers to, they instead do everything digitally, via an online process-tracking portal. The portal initially tasks you with filling out a list of spreadsheet-based questionnaires that cover a mind-boggling variety of circumstances. Instead of completing it all at once, you go at your own pace.
My first thoughts when encountering their system were "this is not slick, nor is it particularly personal." Perhaps I was spoiled by the modern interfaces of mass-market tax-prep software, or the friendly office of my accountant many years ago... but neither one of those would get the job done.
I pressed on, filled out the forms, and got familiar with their system - and I'm glad I did. Although the system isn't flashy and might be a bit 'old-school', everything is extremely organized, and it works. No errors, no compatibility issues, no problems.
If I missed something, the system would remind me. If a deadline was coming up, it would let me know - often repeatedly, which is great for people like me who hate (and therefore avoid) doing this kind of stuff. If I had any questions, there were multiple ways to contact support, and they would always answer my questions quickly and in a clear, competent manner.
After I submitted everything, they offered to schedule a call with me to review my taxes before they were filed. I took them up on it, as I was confused by many of the items in the tax filing. Whoever I spoke to (Jordan, I believe?) was clearly an expert, able to answer all my questions, however esoteric, without missing a beat.
So, was my experience great? No, because doing taxes is like going to the dentist; for 99% of us, it's never going to be fun. That being said, working with Tax Samaritan made taking care of my taxes as pleasant an experience as can be expected, and with no problems. I've been using them every year since then, and I'm satisfied.