FileAbroad

Foreign pension consultation

Have a Pension Outside the U.S.? Map the Tax and Reporting Before You File or Take Money Out.

A foreign plan's local pension label does not determine its U.S. treatment. Employer or government sponsorship, contribution and access rules, plan assets, treaty language, and prior filings can lead to different income and reporting questions. In a paid consultation, I map those facts, contributions, distributions, values, foreign taxes, and records so you can see which issues need analysis before filing or changing the plan.

Start My Foreign Pension Intake

The preliminary intake is free. Do not send sensitive tax documents through the public intake form.

30 minutes · Directly with Chip

The consultation

What we'll review

The consultation focuses on the facts that determine what needs further attention.

Plan identity and U.S. status

The plan name, country, sponsor, governing arrangement, participant and beneficiary roles, relevant U.S. citizenship or residency periods, and whether the benefit is social insurance, government service, employer, personal, annuity/insurance, trust, or another structure.

Contributions, vesting, and access

Mandatory and voluntary employee, employer, and government contributions; prior U.S. treatment; vesting; withdrawal and transfer rights; forfeiture; portability; and beneficiary rules.

Structure, documents, and investments

The legal holder, administrator, trustee, custodian or insurer; available plan rules and translations; account values; participant control; pooled holdings; and any genuine trust, insurance, or PFIC question that needs separate analysis.

Payments, foreign tax, and treaty

Pension or annuity payments, lump sums, rollovers, transfers, surrenders, original-currency records, cost and prior inclusions, foreign withholding or assessments, residence, and the treaty articles that may require research.

Prior reporting and next scope

Forms and FBARs actually filed, prior treaty positions, missing years, notices and deadlines, records still needed, preparation FileAbroad may accept, and trust, PFIC, treaty, totalization, foreign-law, actuarial, legal, or investment referrals.

After the call

What you leave with

By the end of the consultation, you should understand the issues that need attention and the next practical step.

  • A clear picture of which U.S. income and reporting questions apply to your plan.
  • The records needed before any preparation or filing decision.
  • Whether a treaty article, Form 3520 exception, PFIC analysis, or other specialist review is warranted.
  • What FileAbroad can prepare under a separate scope and what requires a referral.

You are not required to hire FileAbroad for preparation after the consultation.

Scope

What the consultation does not include

The consultation is a review and scoping session. It does not include preparation or filing of a tax return, FBAR, information return, amended return, or Streamlined submission.

It also does not create an open-ended support engagement. Additional research, document review, preparation, or follow-up work is included only when it is specifically agreed or purchased.

FileAbroad does not provide legal advice or tax litigation services.

The process

How it works

  1. 1

    Start the intake.

    Tell me the broad facts of your situation without uploading sensitive tax documents through the public form.

  2. 2

    I review the inquiry.

    I personally review the intake to determine whether a FileAbroad consultation appears appropriate.

  3. 3

    Book the consultation.

    If the situation fits, you'll receive the next step for scheduling the 30-minute paid consultation.

  4. 4

    We review the situation together.

    We use the call to identify the relevant filing questions, missing information, and practical next step.

  5. 5

    Preparation is separate.

    If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, the scope and price are confirmed before that work begins.

Before you book

Questions we'll use to map your foreign pension position

What is the plan name and country, when did you participate, what U.S. citizenship or residency status applied in each relevant year, and is the arrangement a government social-security benefit, government-service pension, employer plan, personal plan, annuity or insurance contract, trust, or another structure?
Who made mandatory or voluntary contributions — you, an employer, or a government — when were they made, what vesting, withdrawal, portability, forfeiture, or beneficiary rules apply, and how were contributions or plan earnings treated on prior U.S. returns?
Who legally holds and administers the assets, what investment control or pooled holdings exist, and which plan rules, annual statements, contribution records, trust or insurance documents, and English translations are available?
Have you received or planned any pension, annuity, lump-sum, rollover, transfer, conversion, surrender, or beneficiary payment, and what dates, currencies, foreign withholding, tax assessments, refunds, or transaction deadlines apply?
Which U.S. returns, Forms 1116, 3520, 3520-A, 8621, 8833, or 8938, FBARs, or legacy Forms 8891 were filed for the plan, what treaty position was used, and are any years, notices, or filing deadlines unresolved?
What should I send before the consultation?

Start with the public intake and describe the broad facts of your situation. Do not send Social Security numbers, tax returns, bank statements, or other sensitive tax documents through the public intake form. If documents are needed later, I will provide secure upload instructions.

Will you tell me exactly what I need to file?

The consultation is designed to identify the filing issues that need attention and the information required to determine the next step. Some questions can be resolved during the call; others may require records, additional research, or preparation work outside the consultation.

Do I have to hire FileAbroad afterward?

No. The consultation stands on its own. If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, you can decide whether to proceed after the scope and price are confirmed.

Can you review documents during the consultation?

Limited document review may be possible when agreed in advance, but the consultation is not a substitute for a full document review or tax-preparation engagement.

Related paths

If this is not the right starting point

Foreign pensions guide

A records-first decision framework for common foreign pension types and their U.S. reporting questions.

Retirement abroad tax guide

U.S. filing questions for Americans receiving retirement income outside the United States.

Foreign trust consultation

Use this path when the arrangement is an actual trust, foundation, or trust-like family wealth structure rather than a pension plan.

PFIC consultation

Use this path when a direct or indirect PFIC shareholding is the primary issue, including pooled fund questions outside a pension wrapper.

Foreign tax credit consultation

Use this path when the main question is comparing the FEIE and foreign tax credit for your overall return.

FBAR catch-up consultation

Use this path when the primary issue is missed or incomplete foreign financial account reporting.

Totalization agreement consultation

Use this path for Social Security coverage, dual contributions, and benefit eligibility under a U.S. bilateral agreement.

Expat tax filing consultation

Use this path for an annual U.S. return review when the pension is one of several issues in the broader filing.

Start here

Tell me what's going on.

You don't need to know which form, filing procedure, or service you need. Start with the broad facts, and I'll review whether a FileAbroad consultation is the appropriate next step.

Start My Foreign Pension Intake

Prefer email? info@fileabroad.com

Do not send sensitive tax documents through the public intake form or ordinary email.