Introduction:

Much of living as a U.S. citizen abroad is learning to cope with a life of trauma. Posts discussing the trauma are here here, here and here. For Americans abroad, preparing to file a U.S. tax return is a form of trauma.

The U.S. extra-territorial tax, form and penalty regime reminds Americans that they are:

“Subject to certain penalties, for uncertain conduct!

Those who do not file tax returns worry about the consequences of not filing.

Those who do file tax returns worry about the consequences of filing.

Thinking about the issue of trauma, I was reminded of a presentation that I did in 2015 in London, UK. It was titled:

Sacred Trust: Counselling Clients Through The Trauma Of “U.S. Citizenship Abroad” In A FATCAesque World”

(The audience was a group of U.S. tax professionals. I am not sure that they really understood the message. But, the presentation was a welcome diversion from the usual technical tax talk.)

I had forgotten about the presentation, but was reminded of it today. Looking at the slides, I think I agree with everything I said in 2015. If anything, it has gotten worse!

Here is the presentation:

A PDF version is here:

Sacred Trust – Counselling Clients Through the “Trauma of U.S. Citizenship Abroad” in a FATCAesque world – Toronto – February 2015 1

AI Generated Podcast generated from the 2015 presentation

John Richardson – Follow me on X.com @ExpatriationLaw