Tax Notes Today Federal, April 10, 2023
"Foreign Taxpayers Cautiously Optimistic About IRS's Payment Plan" By Jonathan Curry
"Buried in the IRS’s new strategic operating plan is a project that would make paying taxes just a little bit easier for overseas taxpayers, but it’s still not clear how — or when — the agency will meet its pledge.
Taxpayers in foreign jurisdictions often struggle to meet even basic taxpayer obligations for a litany of reasons, and Initiative 1.10 of the
plan, released April 6, briefly describes a project that would at least make it easier for such taxpayers to make tax payments and receive refunds while living abroad.
'It’s a big deal,' Charles Bruce of American Citizens Abroad told Tax Notes. 'There are many Americans overseas who don’t have a U.S. [bank] account, so this is a big help.'
Bruce said it 'would be terrific' if overseas taxpayers could pay their taxes using a foreign bank account and foreign currency — as the
project’s description seems to imply — though he added that the latter could prove challenging.
Beyond making tax transactions easier, the IRS’s proposed improvements to taxpayer online accounts would also be enthusiastically welcomed, Bruce added. In his own experience setting up his taxpayer account, he was able to do so successfully but said that 'it wasn’t slick.'"