The United States is the only country in the world that requires its expat citizens to file an income tax return and to pay taxes if they’re income is above a certain level. I have to admit, that I find it annoying that I have to file an income tax return when I already pay taxes here in Italy.
Oh, I don’t mind paying taxes. If you expect government services, you should pay taxes and paying those taxes gives you certain rights and privileges. So, I am duly registered in Italy and pay my taxes regularly, unlike a lot of Italians it seems. After all, tax evasion is the Italian national sport. And you thought it was soccer, didn’t you?
The other thing the US government requires is that you divulge all of your bank accounts that you hold overseas. It seems that no matter where you go you can’t get away from Big Brother.
So, I wasn’t surprised to get this big book of tax documents in the mail.
Although I think it’s an amazing waste of money considering that you can print them off or fill them out on-line.
The best part is that they apparently have done some bulk mailing so that the documents all get sent from a nearby location. That should save money, right?
After all, New Zealand is right around the corner from Italy.
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I am LOLing all over here. It looks like Amazon is doing their mailing for them. My last few Amazon packas came from NZ too.
Is the exemption still 80,000? I’d love to exceed that!
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Mary Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Me too Judith. I’m not sure what it is exactly but I’m sure it will be a cold day in you-know-where before I exceed it.
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Is the US really the only country requiring Expats to file & pay taxes?
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Mary Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 4:25 pm
That’s the way I understand it Gil.
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I am astounded! Why do you have to pay taxes in the USA when you pay taxes here? I do not know whether you are the only country, but it certainly isn’t the case for the UK. And, I quite agree, what a waste of money that pack must cost – particularly as the exemption is 80,000! Many of the packs must get returned without generating one cent for the govt. Good luck – I think it would take me a whole year just to wade through that lot.
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Mary Reply:
March 26th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Since I don’t exceed the $80,000, I don’t have to pay taxes in the states, but I still have to fill out the income tax return which really rankles me. It’s a waste of time. I have an accountant who does my Italian taxes, but then I have to waste time doing my US taxes. Ugh.
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