# The US Internal Revenue Service is failing expats, says new report



## SwissTechie

The title is misleading. The IRS has always failed expats and continues to do so.

While living in the US before 2001, I was filing online and creating web sites for online processing (loans, mortgages, etc.). Upon moving abroad during the dot-com crisis, one of the first things that I noticed was that expats couldn't file tax returns online. This was puzzling.

As a techie, this didn't work for me. I thought, why should I have to pay $1 to make the effort to snail mail a tax return, when I should be able to file online for free like how I did so in the US? After all, I thought, if anyone had a real need to free-file online, it would be expats. Thus, I refused to pay $1 to buy a stamp to snail mail a return and didn't file. After all, the IRS said that I didn't have to file since I didn't owe the US any taxes. The IRS still owes me.

It wasn't until 2007 that I finally figured out how to file online. I tricked the system by using a US address and falsely entering an AGI of $1 to claim that I had taxable income. Yet, the next year, the system rejected me again and thus I didn't file that year.

From experience, I find that a system must be friendly and easy to use to attract participation. Thus, I figured that the IRS should make e-filing friendly and easy for expats. Instead, the US came up with FATCA, where it threatened me for not allowing me to e-file in the past. In response to the threats and the related discrimination, I renounced. I'm not going to be forced with threats to use an unusable system while being discriminated against!


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## Expat_inCH

Actually, you were ALWAYS supposed to submit a tax return,even if you owed no taxes. But you are right - IRS services for expats always left something to be desired. They will not improve it - simple economics.


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## Mike27

It's so UNFAIR for IRS to no allow charitable to foreign charities unless charity is US registered (basically US charity), while one has to pay taxes for income on foreign income even though foreign payer is not US registered. 
While taxing everything needs to be reported, while deducting one can't deduct charity donations to foreign charities!


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