FileAbroad

Remote employee abroad consultation

Working Abroad for a U.S. Employer? Map the Workdays, Payroll, and U.S. Return Before You File.

A U.S. W-2 does not make every workday U.S.-source, and working abroad does not automatically qualify every dollar for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or resolve payroll. In a paid consultation, I map where you worked, how you were employed and paid, the U.S. return and withholding questions, and the social-security, state, or foreign-adviser issues that need a separate next step.

Start My Remote Employee Intake

Send a free inquiry first. I review it personally and explain whether a paid assessment is appropriate before you book or pay.

30 minutes · $100 · directly with Chip

The consultation

What we'll review

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

Work and travel timeline

Where services were physically performed, U.S. and foreign workdays, transit or non-foreign-country periods, residence dates, and the records supporting the calendar.

Employer and payroll arrangement

The legal employer, payroll entity, W-2 or foreign payroll records, assignment or remote-work terms, and the person responsible for employer-side questions.

Compensation and withholding

Salary, bonus, leave, allowances, housing, reimbursements, retirement, equity, federal and state withholding, foreign withholding, and items needing separate source or timing analysis.

FEIE, FTC, and social coverage

The tax-home, residence, day-count, foreign-tax, prior-election, Form 673, FICA, totalization-agreement, and certificate facts that may affect the individual return or payroll coordination.

State, foreign, and next-scope boundaries

Former-state ties and wage reporting, local tax/payroll questions, prior filings, and which employee-side work FileAbroad may accept versus questions for the employer or another adviser.

After the call

What you leave with

By the end of the consultation, you'll have a clear map of the issues that need attention and the next practical step.

  • A work-location and compensation issue map that separates verified facts from open payroll, source, and eligibility questions.
  • A prioritized record list for the individual U.S. return, including workdays, payroll, withholding, foreign tax, social coverage, and prior filings.
  • Clear routing for FEIE/FTC, equity, totalization, state, foreign-employer, self-employment, employer-side, and local-country workstreams.
  • If FileAbroad can accept individual return preparation, a separate written scope is defined before preparation begins.

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.

Current pricing

Optional $100 scope assessment

30-Minute Expat Tax Scope Assessment

$100

Focused review of your filing situation with a written list of the years and forms that need attention, a document checklist, key scope flags, and an exact preparation quote when FileAbroad can accept the work.

Preparation is priced separately. A paid assessment is offered when substantive review is needed; it is not required for every preparation engagement. Straightforward tax-year-2025 federal expat returns start at $575, and standalone current-year FBAR preparation starts at $100. Prior-year, delinquent, amended, entity, trust, partnership, PFIC, Streamlined, and other complex international work is quoted after review.

See preparation services and pricing

The process

How the paid assessment 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 scheduling and payment link for the $100 30-minute consultation.

  4. 4

    We review the situation together.

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

  5. 5

    Preparation is separate.

    If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, you receive the written scope and price before preparation begins.

Before you book

Questions we'll use to map your remote employment

Which country or countries did you live and perform services in, on what dates, and which workdays or travel days occurred in the United States or outside a foreign country?
Which legal entity employed and paid you, did you remain on U.S. payroll or use a local or shadow payroll, and what agreement, assignment, or remote-work approval describes the arrangement?
What wages, bonuses, allowances, reimbursements, housing, retirement contributions, equity compensation, federal or state withholding, and social contributions appear in the payroll records?
What foreign residence, tax-home, local return, foreign-tax, FEIE, FTC, Form 673, and certificate-of-coverage facts or prior positions exist for each year?
Which U.S. federal and state returns were filed, what employer or tax-authority correspondence exists, and is the next goal current filing, a prior-year correction, payroll coordination, or a specialist referral?
Do I need a paid assessment before hiring FileAbroad?

Not for every engagement. Start with a brief intake to discuss needs, timing, process, and pricing. Straightforward preparation can proceed directly to an accepted written scope. A paid assessment is offered when substantive review is needed, with the fee explained before you decide.

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

Expat tax filing service

Use the preparation service when the individual return and accepted records are already clearly scoped.

Foreign Earned Income Exclusion consultation

Use the FEIE path when the work relationship is settled and tax home, qualifying days, income, or election is the central question.

Foreign tax credit consultation

Compare creditable foreign income tax, source, categories, timing, carryovers, and FEIE interaction.

Foreign employer consultation

Use this path when a foreign legal employer, foreign payroll statement, benefits, withholding, or plan reporting drives the file.

Equity compensation abroad consultation

Separate grant, vest, exercise, sale, work-country allocation, payroll, and foreign-tax questions for equity awards.

Totalization consultation

Use the agreement-specific path when social coverage or a certificate is the central problem.

State tax termination consultation

Use the state path when former-state domicile, statutory residence, or continuing state-source wage income is unresolved.

Digital nomad tax consultation

Use the mobility path when repeated countries, changing homes, and multi-country workdays are the primary problem.

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 intake or a paid assessment is the appropriate next step.

Start My Remote Employee Intake

Prefer email? info@fileabroad.com

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