Reid Kopald

Form 8621 is the IRS information return for US taxpayers who own shares in a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC. If you hold a foreign mutual fund, a foreign ETF, a hedge fund, or certain foreign holding companies, you may need to file a separate Form 8621 for each PFIC you own, for each tax year a filing trigg...

A foreign trust is any trust that fails either the court test or the control test under US tax law. If you are a US citizen or resident who owns, benefits from, or contributes to one – a foreign pension plan, an inherited family trust, or an estate structure set up abroad – you likely have IRS reporting obligations even if no US tax i...

Form 1040-V is the IRS payment voucher you include when mailing a check or money order with your federal tax return. It applies to balance-due payments on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or ...

A non-US-citizen spouse can qualify for US Social Security on a worker’s record without becoming a US citizen. For 2025 benefits reported in 2026, eligibility, payment abroad, and US tax treatment are separate questions. The rules matter most when a couple retires outside the United States. A spouse may qualify for a benefit but s...

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A foreign grantor trust is a foreign trust treated as owned by a grantor under IRC sections 671–679. For 2025 returns filed in 2026, US persons involved with a foreign trust may need Form 3520. A foreign trust with a US owner may also need Form 3520-A, while Form 8621, Form 8938, and FBAR depend on separate ownership and filing thresholds.<...