In the last six months, the number of comments and emails in my inbox asking me questions about the practicalities of becoming a US to New Zealand expat increased significantly. Since I am the (only) defined benefit pension plus Financial Independence Retired Early in New Zealand blogger guy, the range of questions varied. Many of the questions included a defined benefit pension angle, while others included immigration pathway questions. However, if there is one unifying theme to the majority of the questions I received, it is international taxes.

The popularity of international tax questions from people interested in moving from the US to New Zealand should come as no surprise. Not only do people dislike paying taxes, but it is often hard to understand what the impacts of the US and New Zealand’s tax codes will be on a US expat moving to New Zealand. Thus, in some cases, after answering the initial set of questions, I pass the people asking the questions on to a trusted accountant for further discussions. In other cases, I take them on as a paying client and help them determine if their finances and retirement plans can survive the financial implications of the move.

However, not everyone who writes to me is at the point where they want to spend money to determine if a move is right for them. Many are still doing their initial research and are just gathering data points. So, in keeping with one of my original reasons for starting this blog (i.e., sharing my hard-learned lessons for free), I wrote an article that answered the most frequently asked tax questions related to moving from the US to New Zealand sent to me in the past six months. I based the answers on my hard-won knowledge gained during five years of pension hacking my way to early retirement in New Zealand. Continue reading →