US Expat Taxes, Handled — Coordinated by Us, Filed by Licensed Pros

Living abroad doesn’t switch off the IRS. US citizens still file worldwide income every year — plus FBAR and FATCA for foreign accounts, where a single missed form can carry a $10,000 penalty. Do it in a foreign language, across two tax systems, and it’s easy to get wrong.

Taika is your single point of contact: we gather and translate your foreign documents, explain your situation in plain English, and route the actual filing to vetted, US-licensed CPAs and Enrolled Agents. Veteran-owned, doing global language work since 2009 (102,000+ projects, 300+ languages, 5.0★).

How we work: Taika coordinates, gathers, and translates. Licensed CPAs/EAs prepare, sign, and file returns and represent you before the IRS. This page is not tax advice.

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What this page is, and is not

This is a documents and language service, and being clear about that is more useful to you than pretending otherwise.

Taika does not prepare returns, does not advise on tax treatment, and does not represent you before any tax authority. What Taika does is make sure every foreign-language document your filings depend on is complete, accurate, and in a form a U.S. preparer or a foreign tax office will actually accept — and put an interpreter beside you when there is an appointment.

If you need advice, get a tax professional experienced in U.S. expatriate filings. If you need the paperwork to stop being the bottleneck, that is this.

The filing landscape, in brief

Some stable facts worth knowing before you talk to anyone:

• U.S. citizens and resident aliens are generally required to report worldwide income, regardless of where they live. Moving abroad does not by itself end the filing obligation.
• There is an automatic extension to 15 June for taxpayers whose tax home is outside the United States, with further extension available on request.
• Two commonly relevant mechanisms are the foreign earned income exclusion (Form 2555) and the foreign tax credit (Form 1116). Which is better for you is a real analysis, not a rule of thumb, and the answer depends on your country and your income mix.

FBAR and FATCA are two different reports

This is the mistake that causes the most trouble, so it is worth being precise.

FBAR — FinCEN Form 114. Reports foreign financial accounts to the Treasury when their aggregate value exceeds 10,000 U.S. dollars at any point in the year. It is filed separately from your tax return, through FinCEN, not with the IRS. Penalties for failing to file are severe.

FATCA — Form 8938. Filed with your return, with different and generally higher thresholds that vary by filing status and by whether you live abroad.

Filing one does not satisfy the other. They overlap, they are not substitutes, and the aggregate test on the FBAR catches people who assume a small account does not count. Note also that “aggregate at any point” means a transfer between two of your own accounts can push you over.

The documents that need translating

For the U.S. side of the file:

• Foreign bank and investment statements — see certified bank statement translation.
• Employer income statements and payslips.
• Foreign tax returns and assessment notices.
• Pension and social-insurance statements.
• Property records and rental agreements, where you hold or let foreign property.
• Business registration and financial statements, if you own a foreign entity.
• Marriage and birth certificates, where filing status or dependency is in question.

Certified, or just accurate? Ask your preparer

A practical distinction that saves money:

For your preparer’s working purposes, a clear accurate translation is often sufficient. They need to read it, not defend it.

Where it changes is when a document supports a position, accompanies a filing, or answers a notice or examination. There the defensible version is a certified translation with a signed accuracy statement — because it attests to completeness and accuracy and identifies who produced it, which is exactly what a reviewer will want to know.

Ask your preparer which of your documents fall into the second category. Then certify those and not the rest.

The mirror-image problem: your local tax office

The direction reverses and so does the answer.

Many foreign tax authorities require a translation produced by a translator sworn or authorised locally — Germany’s beeidigte Übersetzer, Spain’s traductor jurado, France’s traducteur assermenté — and a U.S. certified translation may be refused outright.

There is a sequence trap here too: a U.S. document may need an apostille before it is translated, and translating first can mean paying twice. Bureaucracy help abroad covers both points.

Ask the receiving office which form they accept before ordering anything. We will help you ask, in their language.

What we do at the appointment

Prepare and translate the file. Confirm requirements with the office in advance. Provide a professional interpreter, in person or by video, for the meeting. Follow up on correspondence — which, for anyone dealing with a foreign tax office from a foreign address, is usually where the months go.

The Handled Guarantee: a named contact, a plain-English plan within one business day, and follow-through until it is done. Veteran-owned, operating since 2009, 300+ languages, part of the Taika OCONUS Network.

Get a free quote, or see in-country agent services and country-by-country support.

This page explains which documents and translations cross-border filings generally require and is not tax or legal advice. Taika does not prepare returns or advise on tax treatment — work with a tax professional experienced in U.S. expatriate filings.