> You will, however, pay two metric shit-tonnes in professional fees getting your U.S. tax returns prepared because the international tax rules are so ridiculous.
Really? All I did in my tax returns was say "I made this much outside of the US and paid this much in taxes". As long as the percentage is higher than you would have paid in the US, than you owe nothing. In the case that you don't...well then you might want to hire an accountant to "get creative".
Did you make sure to file the FBAR report on all your foreign bank accounts and other financial accounts such as any mandatory retirement accounts? I believe the basic part of filing taxes (such as that) is pretty easy, the hard part is when you have to disclose every account that you may be considered to have control over and in some cases pay taxes on it. I think I saw somewhere else that you may have to pay US income tax on the gains in your German retirement account, even though its similar to social security and you have no access to it.
It's interesting that you've found it so easy, first hand antecedents are always useful. Everything I've read about living in another country and having any sort of investments or tax deferred retirement accounts in that country seems like it turns into a paperwork nightmare, especially if you invest in foreign mutual funds.
Really? All I did in my tax returns was say "I made this much outside of the US and paid this much in taxes". As long as the percentage is higher than you would have paid in the US, than you owe nothing. In the case that you don't...well then you might want to hire an accountant to "get creative".