The aforementioned deductions are not automatic. In order to benefit from the myriad of exclusions available – the Foreign earned income exclusion (FEIE), Foreign Tax Credit, Foreign Housing Exclusion, Treaty exclusions, and many more – your tax return must be prepared correctly and tax saving tools utilized properly.

Factoring self-employment complications, foreign pension treatment, treatment of employer contributions, taxability of foreign passive investment corporations, totalization agreements, and digging through the dense web of tax treaties, the world of expat taxes is difficult and can make the most astute of regular CPAs throw their hands up in defeat.

The greatest pediatrician in the world will still make for a pretty poor veterinarian.