For example, if you're going to accept a job overseas for the summer months, you might be able to sublet your residence for a short period. However, if you accept a two-year expat assignment, consider a longer-term solution to what you'll do with your home while you're out of the country.

Compensation

Many organizations with overseas locations provide additional compensation to employees who accept expatriate assignments. The money helps you adjust to a new country, which includes settling into a new home, learning a new language, navigating your way through the region and finding suitable schools for your children. They will also pay for your relocation expenses, as well as travel expenses for you and possibly money for house-hunting trips. You'll need to know what amount of compensation you're entitled to in addition to your salary. If you're accepting a job overseas, you need to know your salary, the cost of living and whether the salary you're offered is enough to maintain your standard of living. Also, you need to be aware of your tax liability for income earned in the U.S. vs. overseas.

Work Authorization

Before you earn a dime in the host country, you'll need authorization to work overseas. If you've found employment with an overseas company, you must determine whether your prospective employer will assist you in obtaining a work visa. During the process of learning how to obtain a visa, you should also verify that your job opportunity is a legitimate one. If your spouse or partner intends to work, you also need to know if a spousal visa is permitted or available. U.S. employers that send employees on expatriate assignments assume responsibility for their employees' visas and work authorizations, as well as spousal visas, depending on the host country's labor regulations.

Health

Having an illness in a country far away from home can be scary if you're not familiar with the availability of medical treatment and health care in your host country. Sort out any health insurance issues -- check the limitations of your current medical coverage or consider purchasing health insurance specifically for foreign travel and long-term overseas stays. Ensure you are fully covered or that you can access health care while living abroad.

Cultural Assimilation

Moving to a new country requires assimilation into a new culture, which can be difficult for some employees, based on the length of the assignment and perhaps the reason for the overseas assignment. Even if your employer pays living expenses and offers additional compensation to make the adjustment easier, you still need to know if your company provides a support system once you accept the overseas job. If you've found overseas employment on your own, you may be left to your own devices to transition into a new culture without much assistance from your new employer.

Coming Home

Returning to the U.S. after a lengthy stay abroad requires repatriation, the process of assimilating back into your home culture. Depending on the extent to which you embraced your host country's culture, repatriation could take time and assistance from your employer, family and friends. Repatriation completes the cycle of expatriation, which is important to the overall experience of working and living abroad.

In addition, you can exclude or deduct certain foreign housing amounts according to www.irs.gov. You may also be entitled to exclude from income the value of meals and lodging provided to you by your employer. Refer to Exclusion of Meals and Lodging in Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad, and Publication 15-B, Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits for more information.

In 2013, Various Tax Benefits Increase Due to Inflation Adjustments such as:

• The annual exclusion for gifts rises to $14,000 for 2013, up from $13,000 for 2012.
• The amount used to reduce the net unearned income reported on a child’s tax return subject to the “kiddie tax,” is $1,000, up from $950 for 2012.
• The foreign earned income exclusion rises to $97,600, up from $95,100 in 2012.

New Program for Expat Americans with Delinquent Taxes

On September 1, 2012, a new streamlined procedure was announced by the IRS for delinquent taxpayers living abroad. The opportunity is not only limited to tax filing; relief is also offered for late compliance with FBAR (Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts). Additionally, this program may be used for filing amended returns to claim retroactive relief on qualified foreign pension plans eligible for tax deferral.

In order to qualify, you must have:

• Resided in a country outside the past 5 years;
• Not have had significant monetary activity in the United States;
• Filed all required tax returns or other reporting information in your host country; and
• A balance of less than $1,500 owed to the IRS for each of the previous 3 tax years.

Participation in the program will entail:

• Taxpayers will be required to file all back taxes and relevant documentation for the previous 3 years and FBAR reports for 6 years.
• All submitted tax documentation and FBAR forms will be reviewed by an IRS representative and assessed whether to be low, moderate, or high risk for compliance. Individuals who are deemed to be low risk will be on an automatic fast-track for approval, no penalties will be assessed, and no further action will be required of the taxpayer.
• If there is a justifiable reason why you were unable to file on time or you are requesting a deferral on a retirement account you may be asked to provide a written explanation.

In addition to the qualifications listed above, the IRS is taking other facts into consideration. Even if you meet the aforementioned qualifications, you may still be considered “high risk” and will, therefore, be ineligible for the program. Please see the article Streamlined Program Qualifications for more details.

What does it mean to be Low Risk?

Since ‘Low Risk’ participants will be free of additional penalties, it’s hard not to wonder what constitutes as ‘low risk.’ The IRS views returns with a minimal amount ($1,500) of taxes or no taxes due at all to be low risk. The less tax liability, income, assets, and complexity of the return the lower the risk it poses to the IRS. Conversely, the higher the tax liability and more complex of a return generally lead to a higher assessment of risk. More details will be available in time, and a somewhat deeper explanation can be found on the IRS website.

How We Can Help You Join This Program

We have already helped hundreds of expats file overdue tax returns and become compliant with the IRS. Currently we average about 10 clients a month who engage us for this service, without any of them incurring problems.

Go To Tax For Expats for more info.