US citizen having lived abroad all my life, where do I start filing taxes?

You've got the basics right - all US citizens need to file regardless of where they live, but you probably won't owe anything thanks to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) which lets you exclude up to $120,000+ of foreign earned income from US taxation in 2025. First steps: 1) Get caught up with your filing requirements by using the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures. This is an IRS program specifically for Americans abroad who didn't know they needed to file. 2) You'll need to file Form 1040 (the standard US tax return), Form 2555 (for the FEIE), and FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) if you have combined foreign accounts totaling over $10,000 at any point during the year. 3) For investments, the restrictions exist because the US taxes certain foreign investments (like PFICs) very harshly. You might want to look into US-based brokerages that accept overseas clients or dual-compliant investment options. The good news is that with your income levels, you'll almost certainly owe zero US tax after applying the FEIE. The bad news is you still have to deal with the paperwork.

Hey there! I was in almost the exact same situation as you last year - American who's lived in Germany my whole life. The paperwork was overwhelming until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which literally saved me from having a breakdown over this stuff. It analyzed all my foreign tax documents and translated everything into the right US tax forms. I just uploaded my French tax forms, and it figured out what needed to go where on the US forms. It handled the FEIE (Form 2555) automatically and made sure I wasn't double-taxed. The best part was that it explained everything in plain English instead of tax jargon. It walked me through which forms I needed for FATCA compliance and kept track of all my filing deadlines. Definitely check it out if you're feeling lost in the process!

Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after seeing this recommendation and it was actually impressive. I've been putting off my US filing obligations for years because it seemed so complicated with my French income and accounts. The system instantly recognized my French pay statements and tax forms, and guided me through the whole process. It flagged my Livret A and PEA accounts correctly for FBAR reporting and explained why my Assurance Vie policy needed special attention for US tax purposes. What really helped was how it handled the currency conversion automatically and explained the FEIE and Foreign Tax Credit options clearly so I could choose what worked best. Definitely made the whole experience way less stressful than I expected!

If you need to call the IRS (which you probably will at some point), good luck getting through from France! I spent literally WEEKS trying to reach them about my FBAR questions last year. When you call internationally, you get put in the same queue as everyone else, but with expensive international call charges and the time difference making it nearly impossible. I eventually used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours or getting disconnected. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They somehow hold your place in line and call you when an agent is about to pick up. Saved me so much frustration and those international calling fees. The IRS agent I spoke with actually cleared up my questions about foreign bank account reporting requirements that had been stressing me out for months.

I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After struggling for months trying to call the IRS from Paris about my late FBAR filings, I finally tried Claimyr last week out of desperation. I honestly thought it would be a waste of time, but I got connected to an IRS representative in about 25 minutes when I had previously spent HOURS getting disconnected. The agent walked me through exactly what I needed to do to get compliant with my foreign account reporting without penalties. The time difference from France to the US has been my biggest obstacle (along with the astronomical international call charges while on hold). Being able to get a callback when an agent was actually available instead of sitting on hold for hours made all the difference. For anyone dealing with US taxes from abroad, this is genuinely helpful.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet: If you're making under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion amount (which you definitely are), make sure you're also looking at the tax treaties between France and the US. The treaty has specific provisions for certain types of income that might benefit you when you start investing. Also, consider opening a brokerage account with a US company that accepts foreign residents like Interactive Brokers or Schwab International. This bypasses a lot of the FATCA headaches since you're investing through US institutions rather than French ones.

Don't forget about state taxes! Depending on which state you had as your last residence before moving abroad (or if you were born abroad, possibly your parents' last state), you might still have filing requirements there too. Some states like California and Virginia are notorious for trying to claim you as a resident even after you've left.