There are still many expats who owe taxes from their 2021 tax returns, due to the requirement to repay advance child tax credit payments received in error.
These payments had required 6 months of residency in the US in 2021.
Some have already repaid it, or had parts of their refunds taken off to cover their tax bill.
The IRS had relied on mailing addresses listed on 2020 tax returns to decide if these payments should have automatically been issued. Many expats use a US based mailing address, as per IRS advice, and were granted these payments automatically, in error.
Most had no idea that they would have to be repaid, and spent the funds in good faith.
While there is a safe harbor (repayment protection) clause in the law to help low income families in similar situations from having to repay these payments if received in error, expats have so far been excluded from this.
I have made it a priority to lobby the IRS to provide relief for my clients and anyone affected by this problem.
Yesterday, I spoke to a representative of the Taxpayer's Advocate Office, who said that they would try to help lobby the IRS to provide relief for those in this situation.
Special thanks to Rebecca Lammers, International Member of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, for providing her guidance on how to expeditiously address this issue.
If you were affected by this issue, please contact me so I could add you to a list of people affected by this, to give over to the IRS.
The more people affected, the more the IRS will take it seriously to resolve it.