American expats in Germany face tax nightmare

Americans abroad have long suffered from a US tax regime that is unique in the way it torments its own expats, and last year's tax "reform" made things worse, says an American tax lawyer. But there is hope.

More than 100,000 American expats live in Germany. Like the millions of Americans living in other foreign countries, they are being treated badly by the tax authorities of their home country. I should know, because I am an American expat myself, and a tax lawyer for people like me. But as bad as it has long been for us, last year’s hasty and sloppy tax reform has made it even worse. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we’re doing something about this, and I’m playing my part. So can you.

Start with the shock: Say you are an American expat living in Germany, and you operate a family restaurant. You’ve been in Germany for 30 years, and during that time you ran your little business via a Germany company, because you wanted to limit your liability, among other reasons. You are now approaching retirement and have saved up €100,000 ($119,000) in your company. You’ve already paid German corporate income taxes on all of that. Thanks to last year’s tax “reform”, however, Uncle Sam is suddenly saying that you owe the US another €17,540.

For the full story see https://global.handelsblatt.com/opinion/american-expats-germany-face-tax-nightmare-920148