It is not uncommon for our American clients to make a living not by working for somebody else, but working for themselves. This pertains to both regular Americans living and working in Germany but also

Student loans are a common way for US students to pay their way through college. However, as with any loan they need to be paid back. So, since there is a good chunk of money

Since it is far more common in the US to own real estate it is also pretty common place to use a US home for creation of rental income, or sell it when moving. As

We covered in a previous article why filing German returns usually feels like a fairly tedious process where the taxperts need to ask all these detailed questions about single items and then still need to

US stimulus checks were a one-time benefit (even though paid in increments) during the COVID pandemic during the years 2020-2022. Essentially the US government helicoptered checks to mostly every single American (with a few exceptions

First of all, thank you for your service and protecting all of us. We certainly prefer learning English in Germany rather than being forced to familiarize ourselves with Russian – at least the ones of

Yes and no – and trust us, we understand how this feels confusing. First things first. When you register at town hall upon moving to Germany the German “Bundeszentralamt für Steuern” or “BZSt”, essentially the

The answer is yes – that is if they want to and you let them. Honestly, we do not know why some German tax office are so gung ho about taxing US money that is

US Reservists are an essential part of the US Military footprint in Europe. Thousands of US citizens who have otherwise “normal” jobs and lives on the German economy dedicate so many weeks out of every

We understand that filing a tax return under the best of circumstances is a very unfun subject. So, we do not expect you to find it a joyous thing when it comes to doing it

We have a great number of American clients who – due to their time in the US Military and corresponding deployments – suffer from some sort of posttraumatic stress. It is not very surprising when

Mostly every American who leaves the Military receives education benefits. Established after World War 2 and with various changes to the program over time, today the so called “Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33)” provides financial

Usually, child-care in the US (or on the US system when assigned to Germany) is not free and contributing towards a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA) can be a great way to save towards

Everybody knows that college in the US can be expensive. A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged savings plan to save for future education costs that come in two different ways – as education savings plans

Contractors working for private enterprises supporting the US Military have a long-standing history dating back to World War II. Contracting jobs have seen a recent high during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to

Service in the US Military requires a certain physical fitness which tends to be higher than the fitness expected of people working in a non-Military field. Correspondingly a medical discharge from the service can happen

It is a sad and troublesome issue in the US Military. But the stress brought on US Soldiers by their job and from previous or looming deployments leads to hundreds of suicides every year. According

The Survivor Benefits Plan is another way to secure financial stability for the surviving spouse in case an active duty member of the US Military dies while on active duty or after retirement. Since Military

It is no secret that due to the large presence the US Military had in Germany for decades many US Soldiers stayed in country after their time in service or retired here altogether. Out of

There is no good answer to this question. To start with the bad news: There is a chance Germany will try to tax both fully. How is that? First, a mid-level tax administration in the

Being overweight is something that many people are struggling with and all too often a change in diet or just working out more does not work. In those cases often only a liposuction helps –

This is an excellent question and as often the answer is “it depends”. First of all, we are tax professionals and cannot give any investment advice. However, we can highlight a few tax aspects, which

Americans in general are much more used to investing towards retirement than most Germans are. For this reason, almost every American in Germany has a retirement from previous employment or freelance work – the most

Ah, the classic mistake. You wouldn’t be the first one to fall for it. We have no idea how this myth came to life. But the 183 days rule is a concept, which exists only

Many Americans living in Germany draw income from the US – as a pension, dividends, retirement plan distributions or VA benefits – and can live comfortably on just those or they are working low-paying jobs,

Many Americans who are living in Germany have at some point served in the US Armed Forces – Army, Navy, Marines, Cost Guard or Navy. Almost all of them – when leaving the Military under