1. 2016-2017 Updates In U.S. Expat Taxes That You Should Know About U.S. expats wait with bated breath each year to know if there have been any changes in tax laws and tax regulations that will affect the amount of tax they have to pay to the government. Given that the IRS keeps changing tax forms and codes, it is crucial to know exactly what to file and where and how much. This can help save money and reduce penalties. Entrusting expat tax services to handle taxes can take much of the stress and headache away from tax filing. Tax return services managed by trustworthy and reliable experts who are CPAs and tax attorneys can give you the updated information that you need to know. Here are the highlights of the year 2016-2017. - Health plans for expatriates: The Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act states that the Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as Obamacare) will not apply to expatriates. So any health plans for expats was excluded from the fee. This means that if you are a qualified expat with an approved health plan, you will not be considered as a US health risk requiring Obamacare. The most important thing to remember is that you need to file the Form 8695 in order to claim this exemption. Make sure you get this from your online tax filing services. - Taxation of gifts for expats: Expats have long been taxed for any bequests or gifts that they receive from loved ones. The form for filing these taxes is a new one this year, called the Form 708. - One of the ways in which expats got a reduction in taxable income was through the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. This is something that can be claimed by both spouses if they are both working. This, and the Housing Exclusion, helped to reduce the taxable income substantially for both single people and married couples. However, this year, the upper limit for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion was raised to $101,300.

2. - In order to make tax scams and identity theft a thing of the past, the IRS will be requiring validation on new pieces of information, about 20 in number, for all tax returns. While this may be cumbersome for the expat, it is also helpful in the long run as it helps to protect your data and privacy from online thefts and frauds. This is a problem that affected tax refunds, making thousands of people lose money or get delayed in getting their tax refunds. Hopefully, with the new validations procedure, this will be stopped in its tracks. - As an expat, there are a multitude of avenues in which you can get further tax deductions and exemptions, such as if you have paid any alimony, or if you are paying college tuition, if you have implemented home energy programs, or have made IRA contributions, etc. While it can seem unfair and cumbersome to continue to pay taxes on your hard-earned money on foreign soil, knowing the latest regulations can help you save your money while also keeping your citizenship to the U.S. alive and intact!