Olivier Wagner - U.S. Taxes for Worldly Americans: The Traveling Expat’s Guide to Living, Working, and Staying Tax Compliant Abroad

Copyright 2017 by Olivier Wagner.

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I am an accountant, but I am not your accountant. If you want advice on your specific situation, please seek the advice of a professional.

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U.S. Taxes for Worldly Americans by Olivier Wagner -- 1st ed.

ISBN-13: 978-1945884061

ISBN-10: 1945884061

I want to thank all those who helped me on this journey:

Those who showed me that corporate America was not the best path for me.

Robert Chayer and Jacinthe Marquis, who taught me many U.S. tax concepts and were always very patient and respectful with me.

John Richardson, who has supported my transition to a nomadic life. John has been with me through this journey and has helped me sustain my practice and discuss tax ideas.

Kasia Strzelczyk for her help at 1040 Abroad. Kasia has been an outstandingly reliable employee, ensuring that the business keeps turning no matter what misadventures I get up to around the world giving me valuable feedback on new ideas.

Gregory Diehl for overseeing the creation and promotion of this book. Gregory has been a longtime friend who I have watched blossom into a global citizen and entrepreneur (he only had one citizenship when I met him, and now has three).

Kevin Hoeltschi, Eric Z, Tyson Batino, Elisabeth Peltier, Chris Backe, Mariza Pavalama, Barbara Fernandez, David Hemmat, and Amna Shamim for giving me critical feedback on earlier versions of this book and encouraging me to keep going to bring my vision into real publication.

CONTENTS

When I met Olivier Wagner at a digital nomad conference a few years ago in Bangkok, we were both already active global citizens. Each of us had the freedom to go where we wanted. We could maintain our income from anywhere in the world (so long as we could get online occasionally). We had adjusted fairly well to the complexities this lifestyle can carry, and were free to explore any opportunities the world could offer. The planet was our oyster, so to speak. Weve come a long way since then though.

I have been traveling the world almost nonstop since age 18. While most people transition to nomadic or expatriate living after many years of following the conventional path, I have had the somewhat rare experience of spending my entire adult life exploring the world one country at a time. This path has taken me to more than 50 countries thus far and given me a profound new perspective on both myself and our planet. The experience has matured my mind and broadened my perspective in ways I dont believe anything else could have.

Though I grew professionally during my travels, collecting customers, registering companies, and opening bank accounts in various nations as I went, it would not be until I met Olivier that I would start to get serious about the tax obligation I was forced into as an American citizen by birth. I had enjoyed a comfortable upbringing in sunny San Diego. As a global nomad, I now took advantage of the ease of travel afforded to me as an American passport holder. But I rarely stopped to consider the seriousness of my home countrys worldwide tax policy and how it could affect me.

As I traveled and worked online, I managed to do so in a mostly anonymous and under the table sort of way. I was always worried about coming out of the shadows and making too big of a name for myself. Not the least of my worries was becoming tax compliant. What if I filed something incorrectly? What if I didnt give the government enough information? What if I gave them too much? I had remained invisible to them this long. Why should I risk anything now by coming into the light?

Though Ive now worked alongside some of the biggest names in offshore services, Olivier was the first person to clearly explain to me why it was important for me to get tax compliant. He made me see that avoiding my U.S. tax obligation would only get more complex and risky as time went on. As my earning capabilities increased, I would stand out more and more on the governments radar. He also showed me that because I planned to eventually renounce my U.S. citizenship, I would need to prepare now by getting caught up on at least the last five years of unfiled taxes.

Despite my unconventional work history and lifestyle, Olivier helped me get everything into the authorities on time while keeping my tax obligation as low as legally possible. I was finally, for the first time in my life, fully tax compliant. Getting to this point was an important milestone in my personal and professional development. As I continue to grow my influence, its going to be even more vital that my financial affairs are in order and everything I do stays above board. Most importantly, I no longer have that nagging little worry in the back of my mind that if I ever get too successful or make too much noise in the world that everything Ive built could come under attack by bureaucrats with busy fingers.

My situation is not entirely unique. Ive befriended and worked with many U.S. citizens who have obtained multiple residencies and passports , started businesses in strategic locations, managed millions in nontraditional assets , retired on some tropical shore overseas, or even brought their children along with them as they sold their home and ventured around the world as a family. Each of them learned to branch out from the constraints of their home country to pursue their own version of an authentic lifestyle. They overcame the fear of the unknown to learn the rules of the new systems they were entering. Now they are each masters of those systems. You can do the same with whatever new systems lay before you: be that the United States tax system or any other.

Recently, I began chronicling the lessons this lifestyle has taught me in books and other online educational materials. That is why I was so glad to be able to help Olivier bring this book together into the finished version you are reading now. I realized he wanted to go beyond giving an overview of how to file your taxes from overseas. He wanted to introduce a new way of living to people who might, at first, be intimidated by all the little details they didnt understand. His goal is to open their minds to new ways of existing. Just as he helped me, his words here will broaden your mindset about how to live a worldlier existence.

Mindset determines everything in our lives. Your mindset is the beliefs you hold about how the world works. Mindset is what will show you your options for acting in the world. If a subject appears foreboding and complex (like the U.S. tax code often does), you will never explore the options it holds. If you dont know what options you have, you will never use them. Making foreign concepts feel familiar is vital to our continuing growth as individuals. This shift changes how you view both yourself and your place as part of the whole world - not just where you arbitrarily came from.

In spending the last decade living this life and mingling with the experts who dominate the professional industry, Ive seen a lot of fear mongering and emotional bullying take place. The people who have a monopoly on uncommon and highly valuable information prefer to hold it over the heads of everyone who hasnt already discovered what they know. They scare ordinary people into taking massive actions they arent necessarily ready for. That is how they maintain their social stature and financial livelihood.