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Hoodwinker posted:Does Wisconsin not support e-filing? I live down in Illinois and the Illinois Department of Revenue website lets me file my state taxes for free on there. I had tried this in the past and I couldn't get the forms to load, but I just tried again and navigated to the forms through a different pathway and they load for me now. V  V
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Mar 7, 2019 14:42
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BAE OF PIGS posted:I had tried this in the past and I couldn't get the forms to load, but I just tried again and navigated to the forms through a different pathway and they load for me now. V 
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Mar 7, 2019 15:38
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It looks like I'll be amending my 2018 return or maybe filing a superseding return. I filed my return back in February, but now I've decided I want to make an employer-side contribution to my Solo 401k (I'll be losing my ability to use one in a couple of months, so I want to maximize my tax-advantaged space). I owed on my return as filed without this extra contribution and paid that amount when I filed in February. However with the contribution, I would be owed a refund plus the amount that I paid in back in February. Is it better to file an amended return or a superseding return for this change? And if I'm doing a superseding return, where would my payment in February 2019 be noted? Is it lumped in with my other estimated tax payments or is there another line for it?
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Mar 11, 2019 05:09
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Amend
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Mar 11, 2019 12:06
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I know that second guessing someone's fee on little or no info is a gray area, but I was wondering if the tax pros here think $1000 for an MFJ tax return is a reasonable amount given the following caveats: 1. Expat. 2. First time filing as MFJ. 3. Non resident alien spouse. 4. One rental property located abroad. 5. Both me and my spouse are self-employed (individual business each). 6. Fee includes filing the ITIN for my spouse. My income is not that high so $1000 stings, but it's my first time filing MFJ and I don't want to gently caress it up. Up til now I've been doing my returns on TurboTax and hopefully after this first one I can just get back to doing that next year. I have tidy Excels for most of my finances so there'll be no receipt diving.
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Mar 11, 2019 21:42
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It's impossible to say without knowing more details of your situation, but you should really make sure that you want to involve your non-US partner in the tax system by doing MFJ. Consider MFS or or HOH if you can qualify. Usually MFJ is a no-brainer, but expats married to a non-resident alien really need to weigh the benefits of MFJ against permanently and voluntarily involving their spouse in the US tax system.
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Mar 11, 2019 23:41
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sale on Banksy art posted:It's impossible to say without knowing more details of your situation, but you should really make sure that you want to involve your non-US partner in the tax system by doing MFJ. Consider MFS or or HOH if you can qualify. I dunno, sounds a bit low, but I avoid international tax/expats like the plague. I don't like to mess with the hassle. $1,000 would probably be fair.
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Mar 12, 2019 01:24
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Expat tax is my area and my bread and butter is people who got their poo poo hosed up by continuing to use dad's accountant back home or trying to do it themselves after moving overseas. I definitely charge a premium. Especially if there is business income of any kind involved. A good litmus test is this MFJ issue. Any expat specialist will want to have a discussion with you about filing status and your non-resident alien spouse. Anyone who says just go ahead and do MFJ, run away.
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Mar 12, 2019 02:30
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To be fair they offered both options (slightly cheaper for MFS) but didn’t really go into detail on the pros and cons. I’m still waiting on my spouse to finish up her 2018 numbers so they don’t have the full picture yet.
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Mar 12, 2019 03:44
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I just want to follow up on my excess Roth contribution snafu. So I think I figured out everything I'm supposed to do. I hope this helps anyone else with this. 1. Since I withdrew the excess before the tax deadline, I didn't need to record the excess contribution or fill out form 8606. 2. I still needed to fill out 5329. Just the section about Roth. And, as Lord of Garbagemen mentioned, it was actually pretty easy to calculate earnings. My excess contribution was the full $5500 and vanguard separated out the earnings from that (an extra $95 bux). Just for future reference the "distribution amount" is $5595. Form 5329 makes you apply a 10% penalty tax on just the earnings ($95). 3. Add the distribution to the 2018 1040 line 4a and the earnings to line 4b because the earnings are also subject to normal income tax... 4. You need to fill out schedule 4 and add in the tax on Roth IRA distribution to the other tax line. 5. I did the correction in the 2019 calendar year. This means I will get a 1099R for 2019 and I need to do a few cleanup things there. Lord of Garbagemen posted:The excess and its earnings need to be removed from the account. The 2019 1099-R you will receive will likely have the code J (or T) and P. Save yourself the heartache and include the earnings on your 2018 return. Otherwise the IRS will be expecting an lamended 2018. I know what this means now! So the codes Lord of Garbagemen is talking about let you put in 0 as the taxable earnings amount in my 2019 return. Which is why he told me to record earnings in the 2018 return. I think... 6. I live in California... So when I did my state tax return I had an additional 2.5% penalty on the Roth distribution earnings. You need to fill out and attach form 3805P to calculate this. AND I had to attach a copy of my federal tax return. 7. Hope you don't hear back from the IRA about incorrectly filed papers. Don't gently caress up your Roth contributions like me. This was a pain in the rear end.  Thanks to Epitope and Lord of Garbagemen for advice and pointing me in the right direction!
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Mar 12, 2019 19:21
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:To be fair they offered both options (slightly cheaper for MFS) but didn’t really go into detail on the pros and cons. I’m still waiting on my spouse to finish up her 2018 numbers so they don’t have the full picture yet. If you need another data point I would quote 3k for that return and hope you turn us down. ITIN applications are a massive pain in the rear end. My firm doesn't really focus on individual returns, however.
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Mar 13, 2019 00:03
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X-posted from the newbie thread, because I think it probably belongs here: I have an HSA question that I've had a hard time getting answers to. Last year, I had an HSA for January through July (7 months), then switched jobs to one where I no longer have an HSA. I recently transferred this HSA to a new custodian before realizing that I had a small excess contribution to my HSA for 2018 (just over $150). Now I need to withdraw my excess contribution and earnings, but I've made this complicated for myself by involving two custodians. The previous one doesn't really understand what I'm asking for, and will only tell me the amount that I contributed in total for the year and the amount that I earned in interest for the year, but I do have statements with the monthly interest. Would this be a reasonable plan: 1) Start with the excess contribution that I've calculated 2) Figure out the interest earned on that contribution for each month after I lost eligibility for the HSA 3) Sum this up and provide it to the new custodian so that they can figure out the earnings on the amount that was transferred over I don't really know how much of a bad situation it is if I over- or under-withdraw my excess contributions. If there's not a penalty for over-withdrawing, I'm tempted to just say screw it and pull out enough to definitely put me under my limit for 2018. I've done some reading, but not had much luck with finding information about what to do here. Has anyone had to deal with a scenario like this before?
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Mar 13, 2019 00:32
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sale on Banksy art posted:Expat tax is my area and my bread and butter is people who got their poo poo hosed up by continuing to use dad's accountant back home or trying to do it themselves after moving overseas. I definitely charge a premium. Especially if there is business income of any kind involved. PatMarshall posted:If you need another data point I would quote 3k for that return and hope you turn us down. ITIN applications are a massive pain in the rear end. My firm doesn't really focus on individual returns, however. Do either of you (or anyone reading this) have any suggestions on where to find an expat tax preparer? I moved from California to Italy in September 2018 and the number of forms I have to fill out or check is some kind of combinatoric explosion. I have income from my job in CA, income from my job in Italy, <$1500 in interest income from inside the US and I'm single. Trying to figure out what to do about the healthcare tax is crazy in itself. I don't make a lot of money here, so if $1k+ is the going rate, it might be worth quitting and going back to the US. Edit: Google will find me places like this. Are they any good? Who knows? MickeyFinn fucked around with this message at 11:57 on Mar 13, 2019 |
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Mar 13, 2019 11:44
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MickeyFinn posted:Do either of you (or anyone reading this) have any suggestions on where to find an expat tax preparer? I moved from California to Italy in September 2018 and the number of forms I have to fill out or check is some kind of combinatoric explosion. I have income from my job in CA, income from my job in Italy, <$1500 in interest income from inside the US and I'm single. Trying to figure out what to do about the healthcare tax is crazy in itself. I don't make a lot of money here, so if $1k+ is the going rate, it might be worth quitting and going back to the US. I'd find someone to do your Italian taxes, and then poke around CA to find a local preparer there. If you have an insurance agent/investment advisor/lawyer start with a referral request from them. Considering it's March, you might consider filing an extension and checking later this spring.
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Mar 13, 2019 16:12
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MickeyFinn posted:Do either of you (or anyone reading this) have any suggestions on where to find an expat tax preparer? I moved from California to Italy in September 2018 and the number of forms I have to fill out or check is some kind of combinatoric explosion. I have income from my job in CA, income from my job in Italy, <$1500 in interest income from inside the US and I'm single. Trying to figure out what to do about the healthcare tax is crazy in itself. I don't make a lot of money here, so if $1k+ is the going rate, it might be worth quitting and going back to the US. FWIW if you're single you can most likely get a way with using TurboTax, it's what I've been doing since forever. It would probably be worth paying a tax pro the first time to make sure you get it right, and also because the first year you are dealing with partial incomes, state, etc., but after the second year TurboTax can handle pretty much any ordinary expat situation.
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Mar 13, 2019 16:26
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PatMarshall posted:If you need another data point I would quote 3k for that return and hope you turn us down. ITIN applications are a massive pain in the rear end. My firm doesn't really focus on individual returns, however. What makes them so difficult? The w7 is pretty straightforward, just send in the original passports with the application and try not to move during the processing timeframe.
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Mar 13, 2019 18:36
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MickeyFinn posted:Do either of you (or anyone reading this) have any suggestions on where to find an expat tax preparer? I would recommend finding someone local, who is familiar with Italian tax law and the tax treaty with the US. People living overseas have an automatic extension to June 15, no need to file for an extension. If you owe tax, interest begins accruing from the regular deadline though.
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Mar 13, 2019 23:30
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sullat posted:What makes them so difficult? The w7 is pretty straightforward, just send in the original passports with the application and try not to move during the processing timeframe. People understandably don't want to send their passport to the IRS for months at a time. So they will get apostilled official copies, then we have to argue with the IRS for a while before they accept and usually have to resubmit a few times. It takes time and a lot of arguing what constitutes the issuing agency. If you can use an acceptance agent, it's not such a big deal, but my firm does not do this, so I have to spend a lot of time responding to notices and calling the IRS. I specialize in multinationals and hedge funds, so I don't like dealing with this kind of stuff, but sometimes we have to take it on as a courtesy along with the business work, etc.
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Mar 13, 2019 23:44
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sullat posted:What makes them so difficult? The w7 is pretty straightforward, just send in the original passports with the application and try not to move during the processing timeframe. Speaking as a certifying acceptance agent (i.e. I prepare a ton of W7 applications) the IRS is very nitpicky about the form. Fail to fill things in juuuust right and if you're lucky they send a CP566 demanding more info but ordinarily they require you to re-send the whole application. Granted I don't have the passport issue since I'm certified by the IRS to sign off on the originals and just send copies of the passport, although depending on location finding a CAA can be a pain in the neck (I'm up to my rear end in applications this year thanks to demand and a lot of foreign employees from certain companies based near here, we have about 5 CAAs total in the district). I *thought* you could just bring the tax return, W7, and passport to an IRS office or consulate overseas and they typically will have somebody who can do the certifying thing as well, but that may have been changed recently; I know there was some sort of cutback on the CAAs allowed outside the country if memory serves and God knows State Department has been having some shortfalls in service lately to put it mildly, so take that with a grain of salt. As for the pricing question, this return does have a lot of complicating factors (the two self employed businesses and the rental property are gonna make it expensive as is before you get into the foreign tax stuff). A thousand isn't well beyond what I would expect given it's going to take a LOT of work to prepare the return by somebody experienced and your country of residence can throw some additional twists into the mix (if they're handling THAT return too then you're getting off fairly cheap at $1000 honestly!). Admittedly I charge less since H&R Block includes the ITIN price in the base return cost, but even then with what's being discussed I'd think the $500 range would be the bare minimum and it wouldn't shock me if it went up to the $600-$700 range depending on the specifics. If you are confident in being able to do what they do you won't always need a preparer though, ITINs stay good unless not used for three years in a row so TurboTax and whatnot can be used (pay REAL close attention to how the preparer does it though, this one will be easy to screw up). As for the MFS thing, they are right that may work out better in the long run; the problem with filing with your spouse is you have to elect to treat them as a resident in order to do MFJ, which means their income from outside the US is treated as US income. This may not directly affect your taxes since they get to take the exclusion/foreign tax credit just like you, but it can have unexpected results. I had one client with a green card spouse working in another country; all the tax on the spouse's income was wiped out by the foreign tax credit but because the exchange rate was kind of wonky filing as MFJ would have made the client owe a ton of money because their income would be taxed at a much higher rate by getting the total AGI kicked up that high. If you're MFS but most of your income was overseas you'll probably have the tax wiped out by the foreign tax credit anyway without having to worry about setting your spouse up (may have to file by paper though since without an ITIN your spouse would have to be listed as NRA (non-resident alien) even on a MFS return, and the system chokes on accepting that by e-file).
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Mar 14, 2019 03:24
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Also you can always switch to MFJ if that becomes more advantageous in the future, but switching from MFJ to MFS with a non-resident alien spouse is more complicated, and can only be done once in a lifetime. If you have kids, you can be considered unmarried for purposes of qualifying for HOH as long as you live overseas.
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Mar 14, 2019 04:33
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Thanks a ton everyone for the expat advice, it really is super helpful: Right now my main incentives to take MFJ are the following: 1. The Retirement Savings Credit is almost impossible to take as MFS due to the stupidly low income limit. 2. I'd been hoping to be able to add my wife to my US bank accounts so she has easy access to that money if I'm not available. It's almost impossible to do without an ITIN (I can still add her as a beneficiary but it's extremely limited). 3. Increasing the retirement contribution limit (not the hugest deal right now, but it'd be nice as I expect our income to increase in the next few years). I think I'll bite the bullet and pay the $1000 and talk these over with the CPA and see if all that's worth getting into the MFJ mess.
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Mar 14, 2019 15:30
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Dudes, I just want to share with you a highlight of my time as a VITA preparer that I don't think I'll top this year: Client: "What's the IRS?"
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Mar 14, 2019 21:57
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BonerGhost posted:Dudes, I just want to share with you a highlight of my time as a VITA preparer that I don't think I'll top this year: I did VITA for a few years and had a client steal my manager's cellphone After he had just given me all his personal information We called the cops and they gave him 24 hours to return the phone to the precinct or he would be arrested
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Mar 14, 2019 22:19
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vyelkin fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Jun 7, 2021 |
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Mar 15, 2019 12:48
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AbbiTheDog posted:I'd find someone to do your Italian taxes, and then poke around CA to find a local preparer there. If you have an insurance agent/investment advisor/lawyer start with a referral request from them. Ur Getting Fatter posted:FWIW if you're single you can most likely get a way with using TurboTax, it's what I've been doing since forever. sale on Banksy art posted:I would recommend finding someone local, who is familiar with Italian tax law and the tax treaty with the US. Thanks for the answers! I'm going to check out TurboTax. According to the accounting people at the company I don't need to do anything for my Italian taxes. 
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Mar 15, 2019 13:26
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MickeyFinn posted:Thanks for the answers! I'm going to check out TurboTax. According to the accounting people at the company I don't need to do anything for my Italian taxes. It's funny how non-USA countries (yes, they exist, I checked google) don't make you fill out loads of complex tax forms every year.
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Mar 15, 2019 14:56
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sullat posted:It's funny how non-USA countries (yes, they exist, I checked google) don't make you fill out loads of complex tax forms every year. Right? Even when the taxes are as close to grift as you can get, at least they're honest about what you're supposed to pay and how it's paid. Protip: everything in Greece is cheaper if you pay cash bc cards generate receipts, ask any merchant.  I do taxes on base and when young airmen ask "do people in other countries have to deal with this?" it is a singular pleasure to cheerily answer "nope! You can thank the tax prep lobby for this!" I like to plant that seed of doubt in young and impressionable minds.
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Mar 15, 2019 16:03
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vyelkin posted:Hey I have a very specific question about Illinois state taxes, maybe someone here knows the answer? Where are you seeing this? Not running into this form on mytax.illinois.gov, maybe it's autopopulated from other answers on there.
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Mar 15, 2019 17:20
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baquerd posted:Where are you seeing this? Not running into this form on mytax.illinois.gov, maybe it's autopopulated from other answers on there.
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Mar 15, 2019 17:21
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BonerGhost posted:Right? Even when the taxes are as close to grift as you can get, at least they're honest about what you're supposed to pay and how it's paid. Protip: everything in Greece is cheaper if you pay cash bc cards generate receipts, ask any merchant. That's a vast oversimplification. IMHO: The tax code starts at the top - Congress. Congress get lobbying bucks - it's not the lobbying bucks to make "tax software NOT free," it's the lobbying bucks that sneak in industry specific deductions/credits. The it continues with MASSIVE underfunding of the IRS - they don't have the budget to get new, up to date mainframes to replace the ones that they've been using since the early 90s. Hell, they had to pay microsoft $10mm extra to support windows XP, which is what the IRS still uses on a widespread scale. As a result of the underfunding, the IRS has *zero* clue what tax forms have shown up until October of the following year. When you file your return, the IRS ties out only a few items: 1) Your last name and SSN, as well as your spouse/dependents. 2) Your federal withholding 3) And federal estimates paid That is it. All the other forms they get (mortgage interest, dividends, stock sales) they can't compare for 12-18 MONTHS later after you file. That's why the matching notice (CP2000) won't show up for 1-2 years after the return is filed. Until the IRS gets a massive funding increase, and until they can afford to bring their systems into the 21st century, it's literally impossible to get the "log into the IRS website, click a few drop down boxes to check what they have on file, and click SEND" dream that the same Congressmen who underfund the IRS run around yelling the IRS should be doing. On one last rant, in the old days (12-15 years ago) most taxpayers had all of their tax forms by January 15th or so. Wages, mortgage interest, stock stuff, all of it. Once the recession hit, the banks went into a tailspin, and that's when you started to see the brokerage statements show up later....and later.....and later....and later.... Now they mail poo poo out in March and don't give a poo poo, really. It's not like you're leaving your stock broker due to a tax form delay. Now the third batch of brokerage statements are even mailed until March 15th. How can the IRS process those in time for someone to file a return on March 16th?
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Mar 15, 2019 17:33
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vyelkin fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Jun 7, 2021 |
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Mar 15, 2019 17:52
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vyelkin posted:I was working through a regular IL-1040 and when you get to line 25 for withholding, it tells you to fill out and attach Schedule IL-WIT. When I then work through Schedule IL-WIT, it asks for both my information and my spouse's information. I'll see if I can just do it through the Illinois website and maybe that will bypass the issue. I wasn't able to do that last year for some reason that I don't remember now but maybe this year will be different.
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Mar 15, 2019 17:56
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vyelkin fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Jun 7, 2021 |
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Mar 15, 2019 18:11
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The IRS mainframes are the finest computers that the 1960s had to offer. Too bad they got them in the 90s.
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Mar 15, 2019 18:28
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I thought the IRS got a big funding increase last year? I seem to remember reading that there was bipartisan support for a bill for that.
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Mar 15, 2019 18:30
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:I thought the IRS got a big funding increase last year? I seem to remember reading that there was bipartisan support for a bill for that. It's the difference between getting money to buy a bucket to put under a leaky roof versus getting money to fix the loving roof.
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Mar 15, 2019 19:31
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:I thought the IRS got a big funding increase last year? I seem to remember reading that there was bipartisan support for a bill for that. The IRS was being "punished" for the Lerner BS and to trying to implement the ACA. So their budget was cut for like 6 years straight. Right in the middle of all that, the IRS was hit by the identity theft crisis. So the IRS ended up scrapping a bunch of modernization plans because they didn't have funding and the identity theft epidemic was the main priority. Also tens of thousands of positions were left unfilled because of hiring freezes. This came to a head in 2016 when the IRS was basically like, OK, we're going to basically stop taking calls from people because we can't afford to do that. Enough people yelled at theeir Congressmen about it that there was a bipartisan bill that increased funding for Customer Service and ID Theft matters only. Since then the budget has remained essentially unchanged, mostly because Congress was just doing continuing resolutions year after year.
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Mar 15, 2019 19:35
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:Thanks a ton everyone for the expat advice, it really is super helpful: Owning an interest-bearing bank account is, by itself, a justification to get an ITIN. You get a letter from the bank saying that you need an ITIN so they can report your interest to the IRS and you include that with the W-7 instead of a tax return.
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Mar 16, 2019 14:21
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Late last year my mom cashed out a trust that her parents set up, from which I received a four-figure check. I was told that I would receive a tax form for my portion of said cash-out (a K-1 I think) that I'd need for my tax filing this spring. It's been a few months and I still haven't received that form and I want to file sooner rather than later since I've had everything else that I need for weeks. My mom doesn't think that K-1 will impact me that much and says I should just file without it, is that a fair assessment considering that I didn't get a giant payout from said trust? Or is there more to it?
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Mar 16, 2019 15:41
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C-Euro posted:Late last year my mom cashed out a trust that her parents set up, from which I received a four-figure check. I was told that I would receive a tax form for my portion of said cash-out (a K-1 I think) that I'd need for my tax filing this spring. It's been a few months and I still haven't received that form and I want to file sooner rather than later since I've had everything else that I need for weeks. My mom doesn't think that K-1 will impact me that much and says I should just file without it, is that a fair assessment considering that I didn't get a giant payout from said trust? Or is there more to it? If you owe income tax on the payout, four-figure checks would still generate a few hundred dollars in tax. If you know the amount and that it's taxable, you can find the right line to include it on when filing your return.
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Mar 16, 2019 16:05
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