FileAbroad

U.S. rental property abroad consultation

Own U.S. Rental Property While Living Abroad? Map the Owner, Federal, State, and Withholding Rules Before You File.

Keeping U.S. real estate after a move abroad creates more than a line for net rent. The filing depends on who owns the property, each owner’s U.S. tax status, rental and personal use, services, gross receipts, basis and depreciation, loss limits, the property state, foreign-country tax, prior filings, and any pending sale. In a paid consultation, I map those facts, identify the records and possible reporting paths, and define the next scope without treating Schedule E, a foreign-owner election, a deductible loss, or FIRPTA as automatic.

Start My U.S. Rental 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.

Owner status and holding structure

The legal and beneficial owners, ownership percentages, U.S. tax status by year, and any LLC, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, nominee, or co-owner layer before a return or withholding path is selected.

Rental use and services

Fair-rental days, vacancy, personal or family use, below-market use, average stays, and services provided by you, a manager, or a platform that may change the income channel or loss analysis.

Gross rent and property records

Rent, advance payments, retained deposits, manager or platform statements, mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, fees, repairs, improvements, furnishings, and the records needed to reconcile gross activity.

Basis, depreciation, and loss history

Acquisition or inheritance records, land and building allocation, conversion and placed-in-service dates, improvements, prior depreciation, basis and at-risk facts, suspended losses, and missing or inconsistent schedules.

Federal, state, withholding, and sale posture

Prior returns, state-source filing, estimated payments, foreign-country tax, section 871(d) and Chapter 3 documentation only if a foreign owner is involved, notices, and any sale or FIRPTA issue requiring a separate scope or referral.

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 property-by-property map of owners, U.S. tax status, rental use, holding structure, and filing years before any form or election is selected.
  • A focused records list for gross rent, expenses, capital work, basis, depreciation, loss carryovers, state filings, withholding documentation, foreign tax, and a pending sale.
  • The federal, state, foreign-owner withholding, treaty, loss-limit, correction, and sale questions that require preparation, calculation, research, or referral.
  • A defined next step: accepted U.S. return work, a separately priced reconstruction or planning engagement, another FileAbroad pathway, or the appropriate legal, state, foreign-country, or property specialist.

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 U.S. rental

Which U.S. state and general location is each property in, what type of property is it, who holds legal and beneficial ownership, and is any LLC, partnership, corporation, trust, estate, nominee, or co-owner involved?
What was each owner’s U.S. tax status during the years at issue—U.S. citizen, green-card holder or other resident alien, dual-status taxpayer, nonresident alien, or former citizen or long-term resident—and when did any status change?
When was the property acquired, inherited, converted to rental use, first available for rent, and placed in service, and how many days was it rented at fair value, vacant, under repair, or used personally by an owner, family member, or below-market occupant?
What gross rent, advance rent, deposits, manager or platform statements, mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, operating costs, repairs, improvements, furnishings, and depreciation records exist for each year?
Which federal and state returns, rental or entity schedules, section 871(d) election statements, Forms W-8, W-9, or 1042-S, estimated payments, withholding records, notices, or sale documents already exist, and is a filing, response, or closing deadline pending?
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

State tax termination consultation

Use the state path when former-state domicile, residency evidence, or a source-income dispute is the primary problem.

Foreign-owned U.S. LLC consultation

Use the entity path when a non-U.S. person owns the property through a U.S. disregarded LLC and Form 5472 or related-party transactions are central.

Foreign tax credit consultation

Use the credit path when the residence country also taxed the U.S.-source rent and treaty resourcing, creditability, or limitation is the dominant question.

U.S. expats in Mexico tax guide

Review the corrected country example when a U.S. rental, Mexico residence, federal filing, and state-source income occur together.

State taxes abroad guide

Separate domicile from continuing state-source rent and identify the state-specific records to preserve.

Expat tax guide

Place the rental alongside the owner’s broader U.S. income, residence, foreign-tax, account, and filing history.

Expat tax filing service

Review the broader preparation service when the U.S. rental is one part of an accepted annual return engagement.

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 U.S. Rental Intake

Prefer email? info@fileabroad.com

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