I'm an expat, living abroad and I just recently learned that I have to report my income to the IRS. Thankfully, this is the first year I've ever earned money, the other years I've been abroad I've been a student, so I don't have several years of back taxes/fees waiting for me. I just have to file for 2009, and according to the people I've talked to in the IRS, thanks to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion I have nothing to worry about in terms of late fees on this years taxes.
Happy that I won't have to pay anything, I rush off to to file my taxes online, only to find that I can't file my taxes online because I live abroad and don't have an American address. Not a single site that the IRS works with to e-file, will work with a foreign address. Now I have to go all the way to the US consulate, cause I don't have a printer, and pick up all the tax forms, fill them out and mail them off.
This is so stupid. First of all, why do I have to file US taxes at all? I don't live in the US and work for a foreign company. Second, if I have to file, why do I have to file in the slowest, most hassled way possible? Why can't I file online like a normal person?
Happy that I won't have to pay anything, I rush off to to file my taxes online, only to find that I can't file my taxes online because I live abroad and don't have an American address. Not a single site that the IRS works with to e-file, will work with a foreign address. Now I have to go all the way to the US consulate, cause I don't have a printer, and pick up all the tax forms, fill them out and mail them off.
This is so stupid. First of all, why do I have to file US taxes at all? I don't live in the US and work for a foreign company. Second, if I have to file, why do I have to file in the slowest, most hassled way possible? Why can't I file online like a normal person?