Mel Whitney
- Non-resident taxation
- Real estate taxation
- Tax optimization
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
- Humboldt State University
Articles
IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (SFOP): a comprehensive guide for expats
The Internal Revenue Service introduced the streamlined foreign offshore procedures to give Americans abroad a structured way to catch up on missed tax filings without facing severe penalties. Instead of automatic fines, eligib...
Delinquent FBAR submission procedures: How to file late FBARs in 2026
Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures (DFSP) allow US taxpayers to file overdue foreign account reports without maximum penalties. If you missed FBAR deadlines for accounts exceeding $10,000 aggregate, DFSP provides a compliance path with typically $0 penalties if you have reasonable cause. This guide covers DFSP eligibility, acceptable...
IRS Form 8938: What it is, who needs to file, and why you shouldn’t ignore it
2026 filing season update: Filing your 2025 tax return? Form 8938 requirements remain unchanged for the 2025 tax year. If your specified foreign financial assets exceeded the applicable thresholds at any point in 2...
IRS Form 14654 instructions for SDOP filing: How to certify non-willfulness under the domestic streamlined procedures
In 2014, the IRS changed the course of offshore compliance by launching the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures – a relief path for US residents who had unknowingly failed to report foreign income and accounts. It offered a lifeline to those who made honest errors rather than deliberate omissions, replacing fear of massive penalties wi...
FBAR quiet disclosure 2026: Risks, IRS penalties, and why Streamlined FBAR disclosure is better
Many Americans living abroad discover that several foreign bank accounts should have been reported on FinCEN Form 114, with FBARs for the 2025 calendar year due April 15, 2026, and automatically extended to October 15, 2026, and decide to quietly file the missing forms without using an IRS compliance program – a step commonly referred to as...
Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE): Complete guide 2026
The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is one of the few tax rules that actually feels like a win for Americans abroad. The IRS taxes your worldwide income from every place you earn money, so this break is a big deal when most of your pay comes from work overseas. In 2026, the rules behind the foreign income exclusion stay simple: meet one of two re...