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One of the complicated parts about this for US citizens is taxes. If you are a US citizen you have to file taxes with the IRS for your worldwide income, even if you are living and paying taxes in another country. I assume most EU countries have a tax-treaty with the US, so you wouldn't have to pay taxes twice, but it definitely makes it more complicated.

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Yes. The process of filing taxes in the US for citizens living abroad is complicated enough that it warrants hiring an accountant. This is a few hundred bucks whether you end up owing tax or not. Additionally, there is a mandatory filing of foreign bank accounts called FBAR. This is a real pain in the butt as the process is cumbersome.

All in all, I waste one day of productivity per year because of the IRS and FBAR filing requirements. I don't have to pay any tax.

Curious, as this will start to affect my family soon: is TurboTax and its ilk not up to this task yet? (That is, a net nil return on foreign income given a double-taxation treaty.)

Only if your income exceeds something like $90K. If they could get that kind of a job anywhere in the world, they don't need to leave the US.

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