IRAs & Roth IRAs as a US Expat | Tax deductions & eligibility Americans Abroad | Taxes with Nathalie

Join MyExpatTaxes CEO and IRS enrolled agent as she walks you through what expats should know about IRAs and Roth IRAs as an American living outside the US.
Some questions Nathalie answers:
How much can I contribute to my IRA?
Should I open an IRA as an expat?
Should I close my US IRA now that I'm abroad?
Are there penalties I should be aware of?
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Paying US Taxes as an American Abroad: www.myexpattax....
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All the new info for filing your taxes as an expat in 2022
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Intro: (00:00)
IRAs for Expats (00:20)
Roth IRA or Traditional IRA? (00:48)
Who is eligible to make IRA contributions? (02:22)
Which IRA is best for expats: (04:42)
Outro (06:53)

[@savvyfreelancer4553]

Does anything change if instead of an IRA, we are talking about a solo 401k?

[@fatoun.3604]

Hi, how about rolling my old 401k into a traditional IRA while living in France. Any tax implications?

[@MyExpatTaxes]

We cannot advise on French taxes, however for US taxes - if the 401K is pre-tax (most are), and you roll over into a pre-tax Traditional IRA account, then there is no taxable event.

[@julianhernandez6729]

Thanks for the info. I wonder if we can set up a custodial Roth IRA as an expat.

[@MyExpatTaxes]

Yes, you can 😉

[@ilcasti]

So, If I understood this correctly for me and my wife, living in Italy, wouldn't make any sense opening a Roth IRA account because Italy will tax those earnings when we will start withdrawing them, right? Unless we decide to move back our residency in the US when we decide to retire...correct?

[@xkevin1022x]

Hi Natalie, I am an American living abroad in China and I just opened a Roth IRA account. I still haven't filed my 2021 taxes, but I was planning to do that soon. If I don't use the FEIE and only use the FTC, I will be responsible for paying around $1000 in income taxes. (the difference between my Chinese tax burden and hypothetical American tax on my income) I think this is a good decision because it will let me contribute to a Roth IRA and have the money grow tax free. My question is, because I didn't actually open the Roth IRA until 2022, can I still make contributions to the IRA during 2022 if I take the FEIE on my 2021 taxes? I would prefer to make contributions as soon as possible, but to me it doesn't make sense to not use the FEIE for my 2021 income because I didn't open the IRA during that year. Thanks for all the help!

[@jetski275]

4:25 I do make over $10k married to foreign spouse. Does that rule apply to me?

[@savvyfreelancer4553]

If one does have taxable earned income, does it have to total at least as much as the IRA contribution made in a year? Or can one contribute 7000 dollars per year with only 1 dollar in taxable earned income?

[@MyExpatTaxes]

Must be enough to equal IRA contribution.

[@livebeforeyoudie9984]

Hello I am a new US expat who recently moved to Thailand. Before I moved to Thailand I opened an account with Charles Schwab and fidelity but I did not invest anything until I moved to Thailand in which I recently opened a Roth IRA account with Fidelity and I put the max 7000 dollar limit since I did work until I retired a couple months ago.. I did call fidelity and told them I am living outside of the US and I want to invest and they told me as long as I still have a US address I can use then I can invest. So I started using my Aunts address in Arizona and then I moved that address to my Private mailbox which I am not sure is legal to use private mailbox. Now I am nervous that this will cause me problems when I do my taxes and I also want to invest more but I am also nervous to invest more since I no longer live in the US. Please help

[@MyExpatTaxes]

Hi! Ideally, you reach out to our support team at [e-mail], they'll be able to discuss this in more detail!

[@livebeforeyoudie9984]

@@MyExpatTaxes hello I tried to join your website myexpattaxes but for some reason when I got to the software consent form it would not let me accept the date or even change the date so I could not finish the consent form.

[@MyExpatTaxes]

​@@livebeforeyoudie9984 Hello! Please email us at [e-mail] so that we can assist you further. Thanks!

[@stevedice5963]

Hi Natalie. I'm retiring to thailand with thai wife this year Will.schwab close my USA . Checking and brokerage account if I sell my NY residence? Thanks

[@koreancardboard]

Hello Natalie, I have lived in South Korea for 10 years. I want to invest in a Roth IRA and know I cant claim all my salary on 2555 (as I usually do and pay no taxes). If I use the exclusion, can I exclude a certain amount or do I have to exclude my entire SK salary? I am unsure what SK does about IRAs. I would like to be able to contribute the max of $6,500 to the Roth IRA each year.

[@MyExpatTaxes]

There are ways to customize the usage of Form 2555 to only exclude a limited amount of your SK salary. Please use our professional tier so a tax professional can ensure that the right amount is excluded via 2555 to ensure no taxes are owed and that you can still contribute. If you want to do this for next year, we suggest you sign up right away in January so we can already start your 2023 return (you have until April 2024 to contribute)

[@Peter-tm7zp]

Hi Natalie - thanks for this great video! For US expats living abroad, I understand roughly the first ~$105k of earned income is not subject to US income tax. Do you know if income from Traditional IRA distributions are treated the same way? Also, does the US government consider earned income (from job/work) for US expat retirees against Social Security income limits? Thank you so much for your expertise!

[@MyExpatTaxes]

Hi Peter, It is not that the first $105K of earned income is not subject to US income tax, it is that you can possibly exclude that much via Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) if it makes sense in your situation. Similar results however different in principal 😊 No, Traditional IRA distributions cannot be excluded via the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, because it is not earned income rather if you pay foreign taxes on it, you can look to claim foreign tax credit on your US tax return. Unfortunately, mainly only income streams like salary or self-employment income are seen as earned income. Social security, pension income, etc. are not seen as earned income so cannot be excluded via Form 2555. However, in regards to social security income, a lot of US tax treaties will exempt taxation on it either in the US or your local country. MyExpatTaxes' will help you determine automatically which is the best expat benefit to take when you are filing. Good luck! Sorry for the long response, it was a bit of a loaded question 😅

[@Peter-tm7zp]

@@MyExpatTaxes thank you very much!

[@MyExpatTaxes]

@@Peter-tm7zp You're welcome! If you have any US Tax inquiries, you may also ask us here: web.facebook.com/groups/usexpattaxsupport . 😊

[@JP7onEarth]

Hi Natalie, how do we set up a consultation with you? Thanks JP SF Bay Area

[@Gigi-up8yi]

Hi! Thank you so much for the video! Me and my wife had an existing Roth IRA account before we recently moved and we are currently working in the Uk. Our joint income right now is £110K or around $135-140k USD, we have no kids. In this case, are we still eligible for contributing to our Roth IRA account? Please kindly advise. Thank you!

[@MyExpatTaxes]

From an AGI standpoint: www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/amount-of-roth-ira-contributions-that-you-can-make-for-2022, yes however, it depends on how much income you exclude if any with FEIE as well. MyExpatTaxes.com will help you identify if you overcontribute or not! 😉