Mel Whitney
Articles
FinCEN Form 114 requirements: Who must file and what to report
FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts – and it’s filed separately from your federal income tax return through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing system, not with ...
Capital gains tax on foreign property: How to report and exclusions you can use (2026)
US tax rules follow you no matter where you live. When you sell a home or land in another country, the IRS still wants you to report the profit. In simple words, you figure out how much money you made, convert the numbers into US dollars, and then apply the tax breaks that fit. If you sold in 2025 vs 2026: The year you ...
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. Since the IRS taxes your worldwide income, knowing how much foreign income is tax-free can make a significant difference when most of your pay comes from work overseas. A quick note on tax years: the 2025...
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...
FBAR filing requirements and deadlines in 2026
Whether you live in the US or abroad, if you hold an account in a foreign bank — whether savings, pension, or investment — you may be required to comply with FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) filing requirements. Many Americans are unaware that simply having a foreign bank account can trigger FBAR obligations. ...
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...