U.S. tax laws make life miserable for an American in the Netherlands
I am Maria E. (I prefer not to use my full name), a self-employed piano teacher.
I was not born American or Dutch, but Argentinian. I went to Europe first as a music student in Paris, then again to study in the Netherlands, where I met my future husband. When I finished my undergraduate studies I moved to California, where I lived for 10 years and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of California in Riverside. That degree saddled me with debt that I am still re-paying and probably will still owe until the day I die.
American by choice
I became an American citizen after about 8 years of living in California, but I moved back to Europe, where I had fallen in love. I married my husband, who is Dutch, and I have lived in the Netherlands since 2011.
At first, I didn’t know I had to do a U.S. tax declaration even if I was not living in the USA. When I lived in California, I needed an accountant to do my taxes. I had no business education, only music conservatory and then the two-year stint in the university that left me with a useless MFA. One year I had to pay $5,000 in taxes because I had made $30,000. Taxes were never cheap for me as a self-employed.
U.S. tax declaration odyssey
When I heard that I had to also file an American tax declaration even while living in the Netherlands, I first tried to do them myself. I had an accountant for my Dutch taxes because I had a self-employed visa. I was basically a businesswoman with zero business education. But I managed. I called all the possible numbers I could call for help doing my taxes, but it was quite challenging because I had to use Skype to call the United States and that cost me money too. The IRS made me wait on the line for a long time. The explanations via telephone were very confusing. One person said one thing, another something different. It was very stressful. I even called Berlin and Paris, the only embassies in Europe where they help Americans with their taxes.
The problem is that many American expats make good money, so most American accountants charge a lot of money. One of the few I consulted told me that she will “only” charge me 400 euros per hour. 400 euros an hour! At the time I only making 40 euros an hour.
Normal person, abnormal double tax burden
I make about $21,700 a year before taxes – in a good year. My husband makes about the same, more or less. We live in social housing. We get subsidies. We live with the minimum. And we are around 55 years old, so it’s not going to get much better for us. If anything, I expect it to get worse.
How am I supposed to pay a U.S. accountant 400 euros an hour? I did my taxes alone for a while, but once I made a mistake and I had to pay penalties, so I decided that it was better not to do them than to do them wrong. What could I do? Also, it took me like a month to do my taxes. It is so difficult for me, so stressful. I had to read all the information, go through my numbers, figure out how to fill in the forms. God, it took me the whole summer. I still file occasionally, paying an accountant once in a while. I do two or three years together, but it wastes a lot of time and energy and money and gives me stress because I am always late, years late, but it is what it is, I cannot do better. It’s all way over my head, and right now, suffering from a burnout, trying to survive, I just can’t manage.
That is why I ask you to please, please, please end the discrimination against Americans abroad! Stop asking us to declare income when we don’t live in the United States and don’t work there and make no money there! Just the fact of filing the forms is a total stress! Please stop this insanity!