No secret about the point Im trying to make here, so, I'll go ahead and explain you what kind of tax preparer should deal with take care of your expatriate tax return preparation: a Cpa with overseas and national tax practical experience, and/or an international tax attorney who can represent your best interests to Uncle Sam
Even better - engage the services of a firm that employs Certified Public Accountants as well as international tax attorneys. The problem with leaving convoluted expatriate return filing up to someone whose occupation it is not, whether that be yourself or a normal tax preparation service, is that due to possible miscalculations from lack of understanding of the applicable laws, the tax due determined will be much larger than it actually should be - and that's why the resulting interest and penalties will be higher as well.. You should pay special attention to this if you are already experiencing issues with the IRS.
tax return preparation
For instance, if you were to have a shot at to fill out and file an offer in compromise (OIC), do you know rules for filing such as what the statutes of limitations are? What about your chances of getting an offer for less than the assessed tax liability and fees authorized - do you know within what thresholds the I.R.S. is probably to accept an OIC? What about the reporting to every American's favorite tax collection agency the money you hold in foreign bank and investment accounts? Have you had experience undertaking this reconciliation using the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, Form TD F 90-22.1 (FBAR)? Or filed a Form 5471, Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations When you own or have control over 10% of a foreign corporation? Your totally obvious answer will be "Of course not, that's not what I do for a living!" That is why I asked the question. And these are just some of the challenges an unexperienced tax preparer will experience.
Let me illustrate
1st) How likely would you be to take an extravagant imported luxury sedan with engine problems to a shop that only has experience fixing older domestic cars?
2nd) Would you take a sick pet to a vet who only diagnoses cows?
The point isn't that one tax preparer is better or more experienced to handle your tax return preparation than another - all those mentioned in the analogies are experts in their own fields. The point is that they are each specialized, with skills honed over a career, or if we are talking about a firm with several professionals, many careers, and are much more proficient at their acquired skillset. Think about your own career: once you achieve a certain level of expertise in your field, very few, if any, others could do your job the same as you. You have worked long and hard to earn your money, and You surely don't want to let it go that easily. Allow us to demonstrate our ability to solve your expatriate tax return preparation, and represent your best interests: as little tax liability as the law allows. Let this expert firm Tax Planner CPA with their attorneys skilled in international tax matters do what they do best, just like you do what you do best.
