Glossary · US Tax
Accidental American
An accidental American is someone who is a US citizen — usually by birth in the US or to US-citizen parents — but has lived their life elsewhere and may be unaware of US tax and reporting obligations that nonetheless apply to them.
In more detail
Because the US taxes by citizenship, people who acquired US citizenship at birth but never really lived there still owe US tax filing and FBAR/FATCA reporting. Many discover this only when a foreign bank asks for US tax information under FATCA. Routes back into compliance (such as the Streamlined Procedures) and, for some, renunciation with its exit-tax rules, are the typical paths considered.
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