Part 1 - The Documents You Will Need in Expat Tax Preparation
US expatriate tax preparation can feel overwhelming.
Understanding the necessary documents you must provide to your expat tax preparation preparer will make things go a lot smoother, and your feelings of being overwhelmed will fall by the wayside.
Of course, having a qualified expatriate tax preparation preparer doing your taxes will certainly help too.
Let's look at handling some of the basic information.
Expatriate Tax Preparation and the Tax Questionnaire When you hire an accounting practice for your expat toll preparation you will almost always be given a tax questionnaire where you will asked to provide basic information including
You may be tempted to quickly skim over the form and fill it in fast.
Heed our warning - taking the time to fill out the form properly the first time and make sure it is accurate.
It will save you a lot of hassle and time over the long run.
In fact, so important is this questionnaire to seamless expatriate tax preparation, we simply can't stress it enough.
Don't complicate things when you don't need to.
Provide the information requested and you'll be in a much better place.
Expatriate Tax Preparation and Prior Year's Tax Returns If you can provide your previous year's tax return(s) it will be a big help in your emigrant tax arrangement.
It provides an easy cross reference pertaining to your basic information, and your expatriate tax arranger is able to compare and look for any radical changes that serve as a warning, which may have occurred as a result of overlooked deductions or income.
If you are filing electronically your expatriate tax preparer may also require your previous years US expatriate taxes to be filed.
While you may opt to undertake your expat tax arrangement on your own, we don't recommend it.
US expat taxes are very complex and its very easy to make a mistake so this may be a project you do not want to undertake.
Not to worry, there are many expatriate tax arrangement experts out there that are able to undertake your expatriate tax preparation for a reasonable price.
Expatriate Tax Preparation and Your Travel Calendar If you are traveling back and forth between a foreign country and the US, you should be aware that your deductions will be allocated to each country for the purpose of foreign earned income exclusion as well as the housing exclusion.
You must be sure that you present a detailed and accurate travel calendar to your expatriate tax preparation preparer.
In fact, it's required to determine residency, exclusions, and other pertinent information, and any good expat tax preparation questionnaire will include this as will any good emigrant tax arranger before moving forward with your taxes.
Next we will look at sources of income in Part 2 of the documents you will need in expat tax preparation.
This will include wages, tips, compensation, dividend income, securities income, real estate, etc.
Understanding the necessary documents you must provide to your expat tax preparation preparer will make things go a lot smoother, and your feelings of being overwhelmed will fall by the wayside.
Of course, having a qualified expatriate tax preparation preparer doing your taxes will certainly help too.
Let's look at handling some of the basic information.
Expatriate Tax Preparation and the Tax Questionnaire When you hire an accounting practice for your expat toll preparation you will almost always be given a tax questionnaire where you will asked to provide basic information including
- Your name
- Social security number
- Date of birth
- Your address
- Dependent information
You may be tempted to quickly skim over the form and fill it in fast.
Heed our warning - taking the time to fill out the form properly the first time and make sure it is accurate.
It will save you a lot of hassle and time over the long run.
In fact, so important is this questionnaire to seamless expatriate tax preparation, we simply can't stress it enough.
Don't complicate things when you don't need to.
Provide the information requested and you'll be in a much better place.
Expatriate Tax Preparation and Prior Year's Tax Returns If you can provide your previous year's tax return(s) it will be a big help in your emigrant tax arrangement.
It provides an easy cross reference pertaining to your basic information, and your expatriate tax arranger is able to compare and look for any radical changes that serve as a warning, which may have occurred as a result of overlooked deductions or income.
If you are filing electronically your expatriate tax preparer may also require your previous years US expatriate taxes to be filed.
While you may opt to undertake your expat tax arrangement on your own, we don't recommend it.
US expat taxes are very complex and its very easy to make a mistake so this may be a project you do not want to undertake.
Not to worry, there are many expatriate tax arrangement experts out there that are able to undertake your expatriate tax preparation for a reasonable price.
Expatriate Tax Preparation and Your Travel Calendar If you are traveling back and forth between a foreign country and the US, you should be aware that your deductions will be allocated to each country for the purpose of foreign earned income exclusion as well as the housing exclusion.
You must be sure that you present a detailed and accurate travel calendar to your expatriate tax preparation preparer.
In fact, it's required to determine residency, exclusions, and other pertinent information, and any good expat tax preparation questionnaire will include this as will any good emigrant tax arranger before moving forward with your taxes.
Next we will look at sources of income in Part 2 of the documents you will need in expat tax preparation.
This will include wages, tips, compensation, dividend income, securities income, real estate, etc.
