IRS Form 8621

Paul,

Note that this form only applies to American shareholders in Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs).  Here's some useful clarification on PFICs:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pfic.asp

This might be a rather unusual investment type for an average expat to be holding; if you think that you might have qualifying Brazilian investments, though, this would be a good time to consult your tax adviser in the US.

I am holding stock in Vale S.A. but purchased it through USA exchanges and its hypothecated in my US brokerage account so the IRS knows about it but the Brazilian authorities don`t .....probably the easiest way to do something like this for so long as I still have to file in the USA....

by the way, its working very nicely since word got out that Elon is interested in a long term nickel supply contract with them .....

I also have a few shares in the EWZ ETF, with similar arrangement.

Thanks to you both for your input.

I stumbled upon a US based accounting firm Thun Financial.
Don’t know them but have read some of their articles and they seem to hold good info.
Again I do not personally know them.
Here is a link from them on this subject.
https://thunfinancial.com/PDF/2020-Why- … -Funds.pdf
Regards
Paul