Departure planning timelines — is this a do-it-yourself job?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: working backwards from the intended departure date sets the order: valuations and elections first, asset restructuring next, then the departure-year return and its property schedules.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
How do I know whether I am a covered expatriate?
Three tests, and one is enough. Net worth of $2,000,000 or more on the day you expatriate. Average annual net income tax above an inflation-adjusted figure for the five preceding years — $206,000 for 2025. Or failure to certify on Form 8854 that you complied with all federal tax obligations for those five years. The third catches people the first two never would, which is why compliance history is the thing to fix before, not after. See covered expatriate testing.
Is there an exit tax when a green card holder leaves the United States?
Only for long-term residents — those who held the green card for long enough to be inside the expatriation regime — and then only if one of the covered expatriate tests is met. The step people skip is the formal one: the status has to be properly ended for tax purposes, and until it is, worldwide filing continues no matter where you live. Abandoning the card and forgetting the tax filing is the common, expensive sequence. See giving up a green card.
What is the US exit tax?
A charge that applies when a US citizen renounces or a long-term permanent resident gives up their status and meets one of the covered-expatriate tests — an income test, a net-worth test, or a failure to certify five years of compliance. A covered expatriate is treated as having sold worldwide assets on the day before expatriation, and Form 8854 is what reports the position. The tests turn on figures that are indexed, so they are read for the year of expatriation. See Form 8854.
Do you sign the return as preparer?
Where the filing requires a preparer identification, yes. The named reviewer appears on the advice either way, so you always know who stands behind the position.
Will this trigger an audit?
Filing correctly does not create risk; a pattern of missing filings does. Where a disclosure route is involved we set out what the authority will see and in what order before you commit to it.