First year filing taxes after K1

[Wuozopo 4,293]

10 hours ago, Kerri and Myles said:

Which tax software do you suggest? I want to make this as easy as possible for us.

My wife has been a TurboTax user for 18 years. She buys a cd every year and installs it on her computer.  She did an online one several years ago to compare and preferred certain flexibility the desktop version allows that online didn’t, but we have pretty complicated returns. She also tried H&R software several years ago when they mailed her a free cd to try. The returns came out exactly the same but she thought TurboTax was more intuitive in the way they handled foreign income. It’s really just her biased opinion. 
 

Free online will not be free with foreign income to report. They will ask you to pay around $40 to continue with the foreign income exclusion. Our TurboTax cd was $29.88 this year because we don’t need state income tax software. Getting the version with state will cost about $10 more. Seven states do not have a state income tax Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. If you aren’t in one of those states, you will need “TurboTax Deluxe with State”.
Amazon, Sam’s Club, Target, Office Depot...$39.xx.

Best  Buy and Staples are charging more. 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Wuozopo

[K + M 47]

16 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

My wife has been a TurboTax user for 18 years. She buys a cd every year and installs it on her computer.  She did an online one several years ago to compare and preferred certain flexibility the desktop version allows that online didn’t, but we have pretty complicated returns. She also tried H&R software several years ago when they mailed her a free cd to try. The returns came out exactly the same but she thought TurboTax was more intuitive in the way they handled foreign income. It’s really just her biased opinion. 
 

Free online will not be free with foreign income to report. They will ask you to pay around $40 to continue with the foreign income exclusion. Our TurboTax cd was $29.88 this year because we don’t need state income tax software. Getting the version with state will cost about $10 more. Seven states do not have a state income tax Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. If you aren’t in one of those states, you will need “TurboTax Deluxe with State”.
Amazon, Sam’s Club, Target, Office Depot...$39.xx.

Best  Buy and Staples are charging more. 

 

Turbo tax online on their site is 69.99$, why is it so much more expensive doing it on the site than purchasing the CD?

 

We are not in one of those states so we will have State aswell.

 

 

 

 

I went onto amazon's site and am going through the turbotax products, and is this the one you are talking about?

 

 

Because they also have this one, but from what I am saying it is more pricey because the Efile, which we can't do this year as need to send in the letter with the return:

 

 

 

Also I would like to ask, why would people go with a tax guy if the CD's aren't that bad, or are there added benefits with going with a tax guy, because the two choices I have atm are to get a tax guy, or get the CD which you state from that list is correct (I am thinking its the first).  I have browsed a bit on turbotax's site and it already seems very user friendly.

Edited February 2, 2020 by Kerri and Myles

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

5 minutes ago, Kerri and Myles said:

Also I would like to ask, why would people go with a tax guy if the CD's aren't that bad, or are there added benefits with going with a tax guy,

It depends on your situation.  Spouses often have foreign bank accounts, foreign assets, and foreign income......which all usually must be reported through the tax return or an FBAR.  Sometimes, it is easier to just let a knowledgeable tax professional handle it. 

 

EDIT:  Penalties for not reporting foreign bank accounts when required  are quite severe.

Edited February 2, 2020 by missileman

[K + M 47]

2 minutes ago, missileman said:

It depends on your situation.  Spouses often have foreign bank accounts, foreign assets, and foreign income......which all usually must be reported through the tax return or an FBAR.  Sometimes, it is easier to just let a knowledgeable tax professional handle it. 

Yeah that is also what I am thinking for this first year after K1 to go with a tax professional, just not sure how much they would cost so I am trying to weigh both options carefully.  Any idea the cost on them, im thinking in the range of about 200$, but I could be wrong.  

Edited February 2, 2020 by Kerri and Myles

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

Just now, Kerri and Myles said:

Yeah that is also what I am thinking for this first year after K1 to go with a tax professional, just not sure how much they would cost so I am trying to weigh both options carefully.  

I have a great accountant who has done our taxes since my wife arrived....She does all the required reporting for us as........PM me if you want her name.

[Cornflake 108]

41 minutes ago, Kerri and Myles said:

Yeah that is also what I am thinking for this first year after K1 to go with a tax professional, just not sure how much they would cost so I am trying to weigh both options carefully.  Any idea the cost on them, im thinking in the range of about 200$, but I could be wrong.  

We paid just $75 this year.

 

I definitely can recommend this place if you are looking for to file taxes in LA. My husband uses their services every year.

[K + M 47]

What we plan on doing first just to see how things are working out is contacting a CPA right by where we live, tell him all about our situation to get our taxes filed and see how things pan out.  Might just be simpler to do it this way, and the peace of mind that they are done 100% correctly I would value heavily.  Doesn't have a lot of reviews on google, but only 1 is a bad review with multiple ranging at 4.4 stars, so seems very good.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

This one. I told you the cheapest places. TurboTax website charges more.

 

1 hour ago, Kerri and Myles said:

Also I would like to ask, why would people go with a tax guy if the CD's aren't that bad, or are there added benefits with going with a tax guy, because the two choices I have atm are to get a tax guy, or get the CD which you state from that list is correct (I am thinking its the first).  I have browsed a bit on turbotax's site and it already seems very user friendly.

Because they don’t want to learn how to do it themselves. Or they think anything IRS is really scary. Not so. 
The first time can be challenging because it’s all new. You seem smart enough to work through it. 
 

Note: Foreign Bank accounts less than $10,000 are not reported on the tax return. FBAR is a totally separate thing. 

 

One of our friends pays H&R Block over $200 for a pretty simple return. I would think a CPA would be more, but we have no experience ever paying someone to do taxes. 

 

 

[K + M 47]

35 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

This one. I told you the cheapest places. TurboTax website charges more.

 

Because they don’t want to learn how to do it themselves. Or they think anything IRS is really scary. Not so. 
The first time can be challenging because it’s all new. You seem smart enough to work through it. 
 

Note: Foreign Bank accounts less than $10,000 are not reported on the tax return. FBAR is a totally separate thing. 

 

One of our friends pays H&R Block over $200 for a pretty simple return. I would think a CPA would be more, but we have no experience ever paying someone to do taxes. 

 

 

If the foreign earnings were sub 10k does the exclusion need to be done at all, or if the foreign earnings were under the amount in need to file taxes in their home country does the foreign exclusion need to be completed?

[Cornflake 108]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

 

Because they don’t want to learn how to do it themselves. Or they think anything IRS is really scary. Not so. 
The first time can be challenging because it’s all new. You seem smart enough to work through it. 
 

 

Lots of people who use tax guy don't scary at all or yes, they don't want to learn how to do it themselves as you said because there is no need to spent time doing so. Why would I spend my time learning how to file taxes if it takes 15 min to file taxes with my tax guy?
Sometimes you could earn more using your time and outsource things.

 

What I'm saying is it's not about being scary or hopeless it's about smart decisions what works for you and what's not.

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Cornflake

[Wuozopo 4,293]

46 minutes ago, Kerri and Myles said:

If the foreign earnings were sub 10k does the exclusion need to be done at all, or if the foreign earnings were under the amount in need to file taxes in their home country does the foreign exclusion need to be completed?

You are confused by two separate things—FBAR and income tax.

INCOME TAX

If you want to file a joint tax return, the all foreign and US income has to be reported. Even if your wife earned $10, it is supposed to be reported on a joint tax return.

 

FBAR

Is a yearly report to the US Treasury of bank accounts held in a foreign country. Did your wife have more than $10,000 in the bank or even multiple banks on any day during 2019?  If so, there is an online form to tell the name of the bank, address, account number, and her highest balance during 2019.  There is no cost, or tax. It is just a report.  The due date used to be on June 30 but got moved to April 15. I still have a U.K. bank account and submit a FBAR every year. I didn’t even know about FBAR for the first 2 years and nobody has come after me to penalize me. If I was hiding a million quid in a secret offshore account, the Treasury department might be more interested in checking me out.

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Wuozopo

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

My wife has to file an FBAR every year, too.  She has more than a few foreign bank accounts and foreign assets.  Once I read what the penalties can be, I decided to get a pro involved......LOL...😁.....to each his own...

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/06/04/fbar-penalties-when-will-irs-let-you-off-with-a-warning/#63a9d8bf363c

 

"Failing to file an FBAR can carry a civil penalty of $10,000 for each non-willful violation. But if your violation is found to be willful, the penalty is the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of the amount in the account for each violation—and each year you didn't file is a separate violation"

Edited February 2, 2020 by missileman

[Wuozopo 4,293]

7 minutes ago, Cornflake said:

What I'm saying is it's not about being scary or hopeless it's about smart decisions what works for you and what's not.

I agree with you. And some people hire lawyers to do their immigration, while others want to DIY. It’s just whatever suits the individual. 

[Crazy Cat 41,804]

Just now, Wuozopo said:

I agree with you. And some people hire lawyers to do their immigration, while others want to DIY. It’s just whatever suits the individual. 

Well said!!!!!

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, Cornflake said:

Lots of people who use tax guy don't scary at all or yes, they don't want to learn how to do it themselves as you said because there is no need to spent time doing so. Why would I spend my time learning how to file taxes if it takes 15 min to file taxes with my tax guy?
Sometimes you could earn more using your time and outsource things.

 

What I'm saying is it's not about being scary or hopeless it's about smart decisions what works for you and what's not.

Well, yes and no IMO.

Having somebody else do the complicated work and/or the grunt work may make more sense.

But at the same time, never just hand it to somebody and expect it to be right or to not be held accountable for mistakes. You have to know enough about what is being done to tell if they are doing it right. Just because they are a professional doesn't mean they are infallible, or they will put as much time and care into it as you.

In this tax subforum alone, you will see many tax professionals that made some very, very basic mistakes (often filing as Single when married, or saying you don't have to report foreign income for the entire year when filing jointly).

 

Most people's federal taxes take less time to do than the drive to the nearest tax guy.