Tax Form for a Retired American Citizen Living Permanently Abroad

[raul_m]

My aunt is a retired American citizen (Dual Citizen of the Philippines) who is permanently residing in the Philippines. Her accountant files a 1040 Non Resident Alien tax form for her. Is this correct? I understand the non resident portion but she's an American citizen and not a Resident Alien.  Also, when I put her information in Turbo Tax, indicating that she lives year round in the Philippines, it uses the 1040 SR for her.  Which tax form is the correct one for her to use? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[pk · Accepted solution]

@raul_m , as an American citizen, where one lives , one files as a citizen i.e. form 1040 or 1040-SR.  She cannot file as a Non-Resident or as a Resident Alien -- your accountant is wrong.  Please follow TurboTax instructions -- she files a 1040-SR no matter where she lives ( permanently or otherwise ).

If you need more help on this please, let me what I can do for you or the help you need 

[raul_m]

Thanks for your help. That was very helpful. Just wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t matter that she’s a dual citizen of the US and the Philippines right, that is, she would still file the 1040-SR?

[pk · Accepted solution]

@raul_m , it should not matter -- US does not recognize dual- citizenship --- the tax laws view  her as just US citizen-- just like Philippines  probably would view her as a Philippine citizen ONLY.