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You can exclude the first ~$100k of your income when working abroad. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...

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You still have the filing burden, though.

More annoying than that is that it's extremely difficult to open a bank account overseas because of FATCA. It's less costly to deny Americans service than to comply with the US' reporting requirements.

And the irony is, while foreign banks will figure out how to deal with an American who wants millions handled, my middle-class retirement account is not worth the hassle. I'm just thankful to still have a current (checking) account so I can receive my pay.

As I said:

> While there are some tax credits that lessen this burden

Not like it makes it much better. "We're going to completely fuck you over, but here's a small concession."

How is $100,000 a small concession? That covers the significant majority of all workers in all developed countries.

Because I still have to file onerous US taxes, I can't open foreign bank accounts, and I personally would have to pay tens of thousands a year to the federal government even though they would do nothing for me while outside the US?

I suspect you're wrong that $100k covers the majority of expats, but even if you are, it's not like it's much better to fuck over a minority of expats.

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