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PatHack

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  1. Danrvan. Good leg work. My bad for not digging for the exception. Tax laws are funny that way.
  2. I have not done extensive research, but I thought it would be taxed as ordinary income. in 1950 Congress amended the definition of capital asset to include the section 1221(a)(3) exception for self-created copyrights and similar property. According to the House report to the Revenue Act of 1950, “When any person sells an invention or a book or other artistic work which is the product of his personal effort his income from the sale is taxed as ordinary income, . . . (even if it was) the first time he may have engaged in such a trade or business.” The logic behind this is that the creator of a copyright is being compensated for labor, which should be taxed at ordinary rates.
  3. Try defaulting to Regulated Investment Company (RIC) on the 8a pull down.
  4. Sorry, I don't know the answer whether the closing agent can pay the tax lien from the escrow. Gut feeling, it's likely that they could do it. I assume it is a matter of real estate law that would determine what the closing agent can do. Additional note, if the lien is paid, you may be able to go back to the IRS to contest the tax and penalties if the taxpayer wants to seek some abatement.
  5. Before paying, I would suggest trying to get some of the penalties waived.....first time abatement, medical reasonable cause....and to determine if the tax & penalties are correct. In order to get penalties waived, prepare and file a Form 12153, Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing. Then you can review the transcript for the penalties and your clients facts. You can then present the facts to the IRS Appeals Officer with a reasonable cause request to abate the penalties. This may also give you time to set up a payment/installment plan if your client needs to pay over a period of time. https://www.irs.gov/appeals/collection-due-process-cdp-faqs If the payments have to be made for some reason, you may be able to pay through IRS Direct Pay https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay Here are the areas that they allow, which appears to include Notices of Tax due. https://www.irs.gov/payments/available-payment-types-for-irs-direct-pay
  6. Yes, by filing under the IRS DIIR program there is a good chance that the penalties will be waived, even if there is some interest that wasn't reported (or in my experience from my clients, some significant income from Subpart F and PFICs). As long as your client has a reasonable cause for not filing (1st time that they were subject to it, young, not knowledgeable about intl tax reporting, and as soon as they/you found out, you immediately filed amended returns.)...and no signs that the accounts were to hide money (eg the accounts are in the Seychelle islands and they are not from there). If you don't file under the DIIR program, it is my understanding that the IRS may not be as lenient.
  7. Yes, amend ALL years that were required to include a form 8938. The SoL never closes if the form was not provided, and a penalty of $10k/year could apply. I would suggest filing under the IRS Delinquent International Information Return procedures. Here's a couple links to get you started. https://intltax.typepad.com/intltax_blog/2014/02/statute-of-limitations-for-foreign-related-items.html https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2015/feb/tax-clinic-05.html https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/delinquent-international-information-return-submission-procedures
  8. Foreign real estate is not included on the 8938. Rental property is not included on the 8938. If it is held by a corp, then the corp is reported on the 8938 the IRS has a good list of what needs to be included on this link https://www.irs.gov/businesses/comparison-of-form-8938-and-fbar-requirements If they have a Spanish property, they may have a Spanish bank account...see Sch B questions. If the bank acct exceeded 10k, than an FBAR is needed (FinCEN 114)
  9. Sorry, late coming to this topic. From the info provided, your Taxpayer client should use the Streamlined program to file the amended returns and the FBARs. I assume the client lives in the US and had filed each year. Therefore, the IRS will assess a 5% penalty. If the client does not use the Streamlined program, there is a risk that the client will get hit with all the penalties for late FBARs (10k/year). If the client is required to include other forms on the 1040 such as 8938, 5471, 8621, 926...more penalties will be assessed. It is not worth the risk for filing late FBARs when there is also int & div income that was not reported. If there is no additional int or div income to reported, your client may avoid penalties for late filing FBARs without the Streamlined program. The IRS site explains the programs very well... https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/streamlined-filing-compliance-procedures https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/delinquent-fbar-submission-procedures Extra thought....my gut feeling when you said your client did not include dividends from a foreign account gave me two thoughts 1) the foreign broker invested in US companies, which means that the client already had 30% withholding tax on the US dividends and/or 2) the foreign broker invested in non-US mutual funds and you will have a bad PFIC problem.
  10. The IRS is quick to send a letter to the taxpayer, usually the next day. The IRS letter will tell the taxpayer to resubmit the payment via Direct Pay, EFTPS, credit/debit card online or check/money order. The letter includes a payment voucher and address to send it to. After the IRS computers process the tax return (1 to 6 months), the IRS may send another letter to the taxpayer with penalties and interest. You may help the client by telling them about a first time abatement (FTA) for any penalty. However, the interest cannot be abated. The taxpayer should call the IRS to request the FTA or pay you to process a PoA form 2848, submit it to the IRS and then call the IRS and wait on hold....but usually that only make financial sense if the penalty is big and the taxpayer is too busy.
  11. If the US army man has a child dependent, he may qualify as HoH. Otherwise, he is MFS. He cannot claim wife as dependent (in 2018, dependents don't matter). Indo-wife is not required to obtain ITIN. On his MFS return, her ID is listed as NRA (see ATX first tab "Main Info" there's a checkbox in a horrible spot this year, under FOR STATE RETURN PURPOSES, put a checkmark in box next to "Check if spouse is nonresident alien, does not have and is not required to have SSN or ITIN.") However, there is an election for her to elect to be treated as a US person and file MFJ (sorry, I do not have experience with this election which is only done when the spouse does not have income or FTC to offset the income on the US tax return). To convert to USD, use the IRS average fx rates https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/yearly-average-currency-exchange-rates or another fx site that will produce an average FX for the calendar year. Be careful the US army man may have signing authority over a non-US bank account or non-US investments (FBAR/8938)
  12. make sure TP qualifies for FEIE. TP must have a residence in the FC either a) on the day before the year began (12/31/2017) and continued the residence through at least 1/1/2019 and didn't make a stmt to the FC that they were not resident in FC, or b) meet the PPTest (330 days during any 365 period - just don't count any part day in the US as a part day in the FC. All part days in the US are consider a US day, never a FC day. Don't forget FBARs or Sch B asking if they have a non-US account.
  13. add FECWKST form to ATX If you use f2555, you have to allocate any days TP was in the US working (meeting clients, adding training, conferences, etc..) on F2555, tab Earned Inc Allocation If you use F2555ez, you have to calc your own alloc and insert the # on page 2 of F2555 line 17
  14. Please don't attach in 8275. It is used for other reasons, not for a missing SSN/ITIN of a non-resident spouse, nor would it be appropriate for a missing SSN of a dependent. Follow the 1040 instructions - under MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY (page 15 of PDF instructions). "If your spouse doesn’t have and isn’t required to have an SSN or ITIN, enter “NRA.” The way to get ATX to put NRA in the box is shown in my original post.
  15. Gifts between spouses are common, and generally subject to a 100% marital exclusion if both spouses are US citizens. However, gifts from a US spouse to their NRA/non-citizen spouse (which includes green card holders) are subject to an annual max exclusion (2018 = $152k). On the flipside, an NRA spouse can give everything to a US citizen spouse. I can't be certain that Possi's facts would be a gift, more facts would be needed, but on the face of it, if one spouse is paying for the other spouse's accommodations & living expenses that are not same principal location as the paying spouse, it looks like a gift. There will be arguments both ways. Re: joint filing. It is unlikely that they will want to file a joint return. It appears that the husband has wealth outside the US which would complicate the US tax return and subject his income to US tax.
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