US expat tax facts, with sources
The numbers this site runs on: each figure carries its legal source and the date it was last verified, and the statutory claims carry the verbatim text of the law. Values are checked automatically against superseded figures on every site update. A machine-readable version is published at /facts.json.
Core figures for tax year 2025 (filed in 2026)
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign Earned Income Exclusion cap (Form 2555) | $130,000 | IRC §911; IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 |
| Standard deduction, single / MFS | $15,750 | One Big Beautiful Bill Act, P.L. 119-21 |
| Standard deduction, married filing jointly | $31,500 | One Big Beautiful Bill Act, P.L. 119-21 |
| Child Tax Credit per child (of which refundable as ACTC) | $2,200 (up to $1,700 refundable) | P.L. 119-21 |
| FBAR filing threshold (aggregate, all foreign financial accounts) | $10,000 | 31 U.S.C. §5314; 31 CFR 1010.350; $10,000 set by 31 CFR 1010.306(c) |
| FBAR penalty, non-willful maximum per year (Bittner) | $16,536 | 31 CFR 1010.821 inflation adjustment, for penalties assessed on or after 2025-01-17; FinCEN |
| FBAR penalty, willful minimum (greater of this or 50% of balance) | $165,353 | 31 CFR 1010.821 inflation adjustment, for penalties assessed on or after 2025-01-17; FinCEN |
| Form 8938 threshold abroad, single (year-end / any time) | $200,000 / $300,000 | IRC §6038D; Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-2 |
| Form 8938 threshold abroad, MFJ (year-end / any time) | $400,000 / $600,000 | IRC §6038D; Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-2 |
| Self-employment tax (on 92.35% of net earnings) | 15.3% | IRC §1401-1402; SSA 2025 wage base |
| Social Security wage base | $176,100 | IRC §1401-1402; SSA 2025 wage base |
| Filing threshold, married filing separately (gross income) | $5 | IRC §6012 |
| Filing threshold, net self-employment income | $400 | IRC §6017 |
| Renunciation fee (Certificate of Loss of Nationality), current | $450 since April 13, 2026 (was $2,350 before) | Federal Register 2026-04931 (final rule, 2026-03-13) |
A note on the FBAR penalty figures: the 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts remain the current amounts for 2026, because the government's 2026 adjustment was canceled (OMB Memorandum M-26-11). They are not stale; no 2026 figures exist.
What the statutes actually say
Where a claim depends on statutory text, here is the text, verbatim, with the source it was copied from and the date we verified it there.
Specified tax-deferred accounts, deemed distributed the day before expatriation
“an individual retirement plan (as defined in section 7701(a)(37)) other than any arrangement described in subsection (k) or (p) of section 408, a qualified tuition program (as defined in section 529), a qualified ABLE program (as defined in section 529A), a Coverdell education savings account (as defined in section 530), a health savings account (as defined in section 223), and an Archer MSA (as defined in section 220)”
IRC §877A(e)(2) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Criminal tax limitations period (3-year general rule; 6 years for listed offenses including evasion)
“No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any of the various offenses arising under the internal revenue laws unless the indictment is found or the information instituted within 3 years next after the commission of the offense, except that the period of limitation shall be 6 years— (1) for offenses involving the defrauding or attempting to defraud the United States or any agency thereof, whether by conspiracy or not, and in any manner; (2) for the offense of willfully attempting in any manner to evade or defeat any tax or the payment thereof”
IRC §6531 · source · verified 2026-08-09
Form 8854 failure-to-file penalty
“such individual shall pay a penalty of $10,000 unless it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect”
IRC §6039G(c) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Net Investment Income Tax
“there is hereby imposed (in addition to any other tax imposed by this subtitle) for each taxable year a tax equal to 3.8 percent of the lesser of”
IRC §1411(a)(1) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Additional Medicare Tax on wages
“a tax equal to 0.9 percent of wages which are received with respect to employment”
IRC §3101(b)(2) · source · verified 2026-08-08
PFIC default excess-distribution regime
“the taxpayer's gross income for the current year shall include (as ordinary income) only the amounts allocated”
IRC §1291 · source · verified 2026-08-08
Foreign trust reporting penalties (Forms 3520 / 3520-A)
“the person required to file such notice or return shall pay a penalty equal to the greater of $10,000 or 35 percent of the gross reportable amount”
IRC §6677(a) and (b) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Expatriation date for post-2008 expatriations
“A citizen shall be treated as relinquishing his United States citizenship on the earliest of”
IRC §877A(g)(4); Instructions for Form 8854 · source · verified 2026-08-08
Form W-8CE notification deadline for eligible deferred compensation
“you must file the Form W-8CE with the payor on the earlier of: The day before the first distribution on or after your expatriation date, or 30 days after your expatriation date”
Instructions for Form 8854 · source · verified 2026-08-08
Non-grantor trust election requires an IRS letter ruling
“Before you can make the election, you must get a letter ruling from the IRS as to the value, if ascertainable, of your interest in the trust as of the day before your expatriation date”
Instructions for Form 8854; Rev. Proc. 2025-1 · source · verified 2026-08-08
Principal residence gain exclusion
“The amount of gain excluded from gross income under subsection (a) with respect to any sale or exchange shall not exceed $250,000”
IRC §121(a), (b)(1), (b)(2) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Foreign tax credit denied for sanctioned countries
“no credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any income, war profits, or excess profits taxes paid or accrued (or deemed paid under section 960) to any country if such taxes are with respect to income attributable to a period during which this subsection applies to such country”
IRC §901(j) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Section 962 election: individual taxed at corporate rates on GILTI/subpart F
“the tax imposed under this chapter on amounts which are included in his gross income under section 951(a) shall (in lieu of the tax determined under sections 1 and 55) be an amount equal to the tax which would be imposed under section 11 if such amounts were received by a domestic corporation”
IRC §962(a) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Nonexempt employees' trust (foreign pension) treatment
“shall be included in the gross income of the employee in accordance with section 83 (relating to property transferred in connection with performance of services)”
IRC §402(b)(1), (b)(2) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Controlled foreign corporation definition
“any foreign corporation if more than 50 percent of”
IRC §957(a) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Form 3520/3520-A exemption for tax-favored foreign retirement trusts
“exempts from section 6048 information reporting an eligible individual's transactions with, or ownership of, an applicable tax-favored foreign trust”
Rev. Proc. 2020-17 · source · verified 2026-08-08
FIRPTA withholding on disposition of a US real property interest
“the transferee shall be required to deduct and withhold a tax equal to 15 percent of the amount realized on the disposition”
IRC §1445(a) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Election to treat a nonresident alien spouse as a US resident
“shall be treated as a resident of the United States”
IRC §6013(g)(1) · source · verified 2026-08-08
IRM: delinquent FBAR, when a penalty will not be asserted
“A penalty will not be asserted for an account if it is determined that the failure to report the account on a timely filed FBAR was not willful, the failure to report the account on a timely-filed FBAR was due to reasonable cause, and the account was properly reported on the delinquent FBAR”
IRM 4.26.16.3.11 (Manual Transmittal 2025-08-26, superseding 2021-06-24) · source · verified 2026-08-08
Criminal penalty for willful BSA/FBAR violations
“A person willfully violating this subchapter or a regulation prescribed or order issued under this subchapter (except section 5315, 5324, or 5336 of this title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315, 5324, or 5336), or willfully violating a regulation prescribed under section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or section 123 of Public Law 91–508, shall be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both”
31 U.S.C. §5322(a) · source · verified 2026-08-08
General federal criminal statute of limitations
“Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for any offense, not capital, unless the indictment is found or the information is instituted within five years next after such offense shall have been committed”
18 U.S.C. §3282(a) · source · verified 2026-08-08
FBAR $10,000 filing trigger (operative fragment of 31 CFR 1010.306(c))
“with respect to foreign financial accounts exceeding $10,000 maintained during the previous calendar year”
31 CFR §1010.306(c), implementing 31 U.S.C. §5314 via §1010.350 · source · verified 2026-08-09
US Social Security totalization agreements (Asia-Pacific)
With no totalization agreement, a self-employed American abroad owes the full 15.3% US self-employment tax and cannot obtain a Certificate of Coverage.
| Agreement in force | No agreement |
|---|---|
| Japan, South Korea, Australia | Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, India, UAE, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia |
How this page stays correct
Every number on this page comes from one verified source file. Each time the site is updated, an automatic check compares that file against a list of known outdated figures and the build fails if any slip through. The statutory quotes are re-verified word for word against their official sources on a schedule. Last full review: 2026-08-09.
Reference information, not legal or tax advice. For your own situation, get in touch.