For Americans retiring to Spain, Portugal or France, full time or part of the year
Know what the move really takes, before you go.
Living in Spain, Portugal or France full time, or for a few months each year, changes your taxes, your healthcare, your visa, your accounts and your estate, in two countries at once. Expat Academy teaches the whole picture in plain English, works it out in your own numbers, and gives you a roadmap to take to your attorney and CPA, in the US and in your new country.
Education, not tax, legal or financial advice. We teach you the rules and the questions so the professionals you hire can give you advice that fits.
- Today, freeCheck your days, your budget in two currencies and the visa income test
- ExploringLearn what changes for any American abroad: residence, the IRS, your state, Medicare
- DecidingChoose your path: part of the year as a US tax resident, or full time as a French oneThe France residence check shows which tests could point to France
- PlanningWork through your path with your own numbers, a workbook and a checklist
- ThenMeet your advisers preparedWith the questions to ask in both countries
Every lesson ends with the points to check with a professional.
Two countries' rules apply at once
The US taxes you on citizenship wherever you live. Spain, Portugal and France tax their residents on worldwide income. A treaty decides who taxes what, and each kind of account, from your 401(k) to your Roth and HSA, is treated differently.
The traps are in the details
Spain counts a whole calendar year, Portugal any twelve months, and France can treat you as resident with far fewer than 183 days. Schengen days are now counted automatically at the border. Medigap's travel cover ends 60 days into a trip.
Some mistakes can't be undone
Some of the most valuable decisions about your accounts have to be made before your residence abroad starts. Once you've arrived, the window has closed. Knowing the order of things is worth more than any single answer.
A roadmap for your attorney and CPA, in both countries
Advisers who know both systems are essential, and they're expensive by the hour. You'll get far more from them when you already understand the rules, have your numbers in hand and know which questions are open. Our courses are built to get you there: every lesson lists what to check with a professional, and the course book and workbook are made to bring to the meeting.
US CPA or enrolled agent
Your return as an American abroad, the FBAR and Form 8938, the foreign tax credit, Roth conversions and withdrawals before and after the move.
US estate or tax attorney
Your state domicile, wills and beneficiaries, a revocable living trust before you move, gifts to children and how your estate is taxed in two countries.
A tax adviser in your new country
An asesor fiscal in Spain, a contabilista in Portugal, an expert-comptable in France: whether and when you become resident, the treaty credits on your US income, your first return and the reports on your US accounts.
A lawyer or notary there
The visa route, a lease or a purchase, local inheritance rules, and how your US will works abroad.
Two ways to live in Europe
Track A
Part of the year, as a US tax resident
Keep your US home and spend seasons abroad. You'll learn the Schengen limit, the visas that don't make you resident (France's temporary visa, Portugal's Golden Visa), each country's residence tests and the treaty tie-breaker, owning or renting a home as a non-resident, healthcare when Medicare doesn't pay, and what the months abroad do to your US tax and Medicare premiums.
Track B
Full time, as a tax resident there
Move your life abroad and keep a US domicile. You'll learn the visa (Spain's non-lucrative visa, Portugal's D7, France's visitor visa), how your new country taxes each of your US accounts and how the treaty credits work, the moves to make before you arrive, the local return and reports, public healthcare and renting a home.
Start where you are
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1
Explore
Still deciding? Learn what changes, what it costs, and which path fits you.
For you if you're still deciding where, and which way of living there, is right for you.
- The Core: what changes for any American abroad
- Your country's residence tests, visa, healthcare and cost of living
- Counts in full toward a full course
Yours to keep: 7+ printable guides and checklists.
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2
Spend part of the year abroad
Live months there each year, stay a US tax resident, and keep it that way.
For you if you'll keep your US home and spend months abroad each year.
- The Core, Track A and your country's lessons for visitors
- Residence check, US tax and Medicare calculator
- Workbook, course book, yearly checklist
Yours to keep: an Excel workbook, a course book and 10+ printable guides and checklists.
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3
Move and become tax resident
Live there full time, keep your US accounts, and understand both tax bills.
For you if you're moving and will become tax resident there.
- The Core, Track B and your country's lessons
- Tax estimator, account comparison, year-of-move planner
- Workbook, course book, pre-move checklist
Yours to keep: an Excel workbook, a course book and 11+ printable guides and checklists.
What you take away
Every course ends with more than what you learned: files you keep, print, update each year and bring to your attorney and CPA. Download them while your access lasts; they're yours.
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Full courses
An Excel workbook
For your country and your path, with live formulas. Moving: a tax estimate line by line, a two-home budget, the visa check, a currency stress test, an accounts register and your checklist and calendar. Part of the year: a days log, the budget, US tax and Medicare surcharges, and a yearly checklist.
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Full courses
A course book
Every lesson of your course in one PDF, with the worked examples and the points to check with an adviser: the briefing you hand to the professionals you hire.
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Every course
Country guides
A fact sheet with the year's numbers, a glossary of the words on every letter and lease, Spain, Portugal and France side by side, and in most courses a walkthrough of the forms you'll file.
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Every course
Checklists
Documents and apostilles, your US state domicile, what the IRS still expects, and in the full courses the pre-move or yearly checklist and the deadline calendar, ready to tick off.
Free tools, no account needed
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Two-Home Budget Planner
Run a US home in dollars and a home in Spain, Portugal or France in euros on one budget, month by month, with every figure in both currencies.
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France Visa Income Checker
Check your pensions, Social Security and regular withdrawals against France's visitor-visa resources test, in euros at today's rate, and see how a currency move changes the margin.
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Residency Day Counter
Log your trips and see your Schengen 90/180 days, each country's 183-day tax test and your days in the US, before you cross a line by accident.
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France Residence Check
Spending part of the year in France? Answer a few plain questions to see whether any of France's four residence tests, or the treaty tie-breaker, points to France.
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Spain Residence Check
Spending part of the year in Spain? Check Spain's 183-day test, the economic-interests test and the family presumption, and where the US-Spain treaty tie-breaker would land.
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Portugal Residence Check
Spending part of the year in Portugal? Check the 183 days in any 12 months, the habitual-home test that needs no day count, and where the US-Portugal treaty tie-breaker would land.
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Spain Visa Income Checker
Check your pensions, Social Security and regular withdrawals against Spain's non-lucrative visa: 400% of IPREM a month for the main applicant and 100% for each family member, in euros at today's rate.
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Portugal D7 Visa Income Checker
Check your pensions, Social Security and regular withdrawals against Portugal's D7 visa: the minimum wage for you, 50% more for a spouse and 30% for each child, plus about a year of it in savings.
Free guides to the questions everyone asks
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How to retire in France as an American
Visas, tax residence, the US-France tax treaty, healthcare and housing for Americans retiring to France on Social Security, IRAs and 401(k)s.
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The Schengen 90/180 rule for Americans, explained
How the Schengen 90 days in any 180 rule works for US citizens, how to count your days, the EU Entry/Exit System, and how to stay longer in France legally.
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Spain, Portugal or France? Comparing them for American retirees
How Spain, Portugal and France compare for Americans retiring on Social Security and IRAs: visas, residence rules, how each taxes US retirement income, wealth and inheritance, and part-year options.
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How to retire in Spain as an American
The non-lucrative visa, Spain's residence tests, how Spain taxes Social Security and IRAs, wealth tax, healthcare and housing, for Americans retiring to Spain.
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How to retire in Portugal as an American
The D7 and Golden Visa, Portugal's residence tests, how Portugal taxes Social Security and IRAs now that NHR is closed, healthcare and housing, for Americans retiring to Portugal.
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Does Portugal tax US Social Security, 401(k)s and IRAs?
How the US-Portugal treaty treats Social Security, 401(k), IRA, Roth, government pensions, dividends and interest for Americans in Portugal now that NHR is closed, and the Social Security question.
Questions
Is this tax or legal advice?
No. Expat Academy is education: it explains the rules, the choices and the open questions, with worked examples and calculators. It doesn't know your full situation, and it doesn't replace a CPA or an attorney in either country. It makes your time with them shorter and better.
If I'll hire advisers anyway, why take a course?
Because the decisions are yours, the advisers bill by the hour, and the timing matters. Knowing which tests decide your residence, which account to draw from, and what to do before you arrive lets you ask the right questions early, when the answers can still change your plan.
I haven't decided yet. Where do I start?
With the free guides and tools, then the Explorer course. It covers what changes for any American abroad and the basics of France, and what you pay counts in full toward a full course if you decide to go ahead.
Which countries do you cover?
Spain, Portugal and France, each for both ways of living there: moving and becoming tax resident, or spending part of each year there while staying a US tax resident.
Are the numbers up to date?
Tax rules are updated every year, and every lesson lists its sources. Euro amounts are shown in dollars at the European Central Bank's rate for the day, with a reminder that currency moves change what Europe costs you.
Learn it before you live it
A few hours with the rules now can save years of untangling them later.