I am grateful for your replies to my previous inquiry posted yesterday ("Does the standard deduction apply to all income including savings account interest income?") Thank you Mike, Critter and NC.
Full disclosure: I am a retired, non-dependent 66-year-old expat (sailing around the world since 2014). I have not filed a US tax return since 2016 because 1) I have no US or non-US earned income, 2) I have no foreign bank account and 3) my inexpert understanding of the standard deduction means there is no requirement to file for my unearned income of about $13.
Frankly, I am alarmed after hyperbolic warnings ("YOU could be required to pay $100,000 and go to jail...") from a "here to help" (for a fee of "from $1,250") tax expert about interest income (and FBAR/FATCA) and reviewing multiple articles about draconian US tax law provoking American expats to renounce their US citizenship.
Is the tax expert right? Does the standard deduction not apply? Do I have to file six years of delinquent tax returns and pay penalties on what amounts to a cumulative payment of 6 years x $1.30 = $7.80 because "...the bank sends a 1099-INT form every year to the IRS"?
