The Quip: All your income are belong to Sweden. And still the US.

Congrats, you're moving to Sweden. Congrats, you're subject to "unlimited taxation."

Yep, it's as scary as it sounds.

That sounds bad...

Skatteverket has the right to tax all of your income, from any source, from anywhere in the world.

• That rental property you kept in Denver? Taxed.
• The dividends from your Vanguard brokerage account? Taxed.
• The side-hustle income from your US LLC? Taxed.

This is significantly harsher than other expat hubs. When I lived in South Korea, they only taxed Korean-sourced income for the first few years. In Sweden, there is no "honeymoon phase." It starts the day you step off the plane.

American?

Lucky you, lucky me. We're taxed by our country wherever we live. One of two countries in the world to do this. (You'd never guess the other: Eritrea.)

So... who gets the money?

Luckily for us there's something call the "CONVENTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SWEDEN FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME."

... or as I and everyone else calls it, the "US-Sweden Tax Treaty."

The good part: It makes it clear how resolve cases where both countries have the "right" to tax a certain income with the goal of avoiding double taxation.

The bad part: It's... super hard to understand. It was written by lawyers, for lawyers.

The best part: I (and a lawyer) have analyzed it so you don't have to.

I’m finishing up a Pro Member Deep Dive that translates the treaty into plain English, explaining exactly who taxes what and when.

Subscribe to The Quip to receive the full Treaty Analysis as soon as it's published.