What makes diplomatic & consular staff different from an ordinary filing?
Diplomatic and consular staff are covered by specific exemptions and by treaty government-service articles, and those provisions can exempt the official salary while leaving private income fully taxable. An ordinary preparer applies the general rule and stops there, which is how the relief in the specific provision goes unclaimed.
Can you work with my existing accountant?
That is how most of these engagements run. They keep the domestic file, we take the cross-border piece, and the boundary is agreed in writing so nothing is done twice or missed.
Are diplomatic staff exempt from tax in their country of posting?
Certain categories of diplomatic and consular staff receive an exemption from income tax in the host country under international agreements, but the scope of that exemption depends on rank, function, and whether the posting country and home country have a specific arrangement in place. We confirm which exemption applies to your role before assuming it covers all of your income.
Does a diplomatic exemption cover outside income earned during a posting?
Generally no. The exemption tied to diplomatic status usually covers official salary and allowances but not income from personal investments, rental property, or outside work carried on during the posting, which typically remains taxable in one or both countries. We separate official compensation from personal income sources to apply the exemption only where it actually reaches.
Do consular staff still need to file in their home country while posted abroad?
In most cases yes, since diplomatic and consular postings usually do not change underlying home-country residency, which keeps a filing obligation in place there even while a host-country exemption applies locally. We coordinate both filings so the exempt income is reported correctly rather than either omitted or taxed a second time.
Do American citizens living abroad have to pay taxes?
American expats and green card holders need to file US returns for life, and many of them pay little or no US tax once the relief is applied — but the filing is what unlocks the relief, so the two questions have different answers. The exclusion for foreign earned income, the credit for foreign tax already paid and the treaty between the two countries between them usually leave the total at roughly the higher of the two countries' tax rather than the sum. Skip the return and none of it applies. See Americans abroad.
What is a double tax treaty and what does it actually do?
It is an agreement between two countries that divides up the right to tax. Article by article it decides which country taxes employment income, dividends, interest, royalties, pensions, property and business profits — and where both may tax, it caps what the source country can withhold and tells the other to give credit. It also breaks residence ties and opens a government-to-government channel for disputes. What it never does is apply itself: a treaty position is claimed. See our treaty work.
