Each year, the IRS releases its new thresholds for standard deductions and allowances, along with an update on its preparedness for the upcoming tax season. While that last part is often open to interpretation, we want to cut through the noise and provide the concrete updates that matter most to our expatriate American clients. Here is what you need to know for the year ahead. Key Updates for Expats The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) For the 2025 tax year, the FEIE ha

Six years ago, we began the journey that helped turn Wanderlust Tariff into the company it is today. In the early days, our focus was simple: build the business from the ground up. We bootstrapped rather than immediately scaling for rapid growth. We created workflows that worked (even if they weren’t perfect), relied on tools that solved individual needs, and built our first momentum entirely through word of mouth. Now, six years later, we’ve grown into a business with a stro

Over the past several years here in Germany, many of us watched with a mix of relief and disbelief as the government debated—and ultimately passed in January 2024—a new law formally allowing dual citizenship under certain conditions. Early drafts even included a “well-integrated fast track” route, but those generous provisions were scaled back in committee hearings and legislative redrafts. As news outlets such as The Local reported, the changes and a surge of applications ha

One of the biggest surprises our freelancer clients run into is this: you can still owe U.S. self-employment (SE) tax even if you haven’t lived in the United States for years. That often becomes the centerpiece of our planning conversations—especially for Americans who are fully integrated into Germany’s tax system and assume “Germany taxes cover everything.” What self-employment tax actually is (and why it shows up) U.S. self-employment tax is essentially Social Security + M