reputable tax prep

paulevans76

paulevans76

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
York, SC
I've got my KY ready for this tax season, and I'm looking for some advice on either going H&R or hiring a CPA, or whatever I can do to improve my chances of not eating out of trashcans starting April 16.

My dillema: I had a normal state job from jan-may, then took a leave of absence and worked in indonesia from june-aug, then picked back up at my old job in sept. I made a good chunk of dough, and i had to pay 20% indo income tax already (have legal, stamped, signed documentation). I have a shitload of reciepts for business expenses to organize.

I would normally just do my own taxes, but with the international thing, I'm thinking it would be worth it to get professional help so as to not be audited or something.

Advice please! TIA :beer:
 
I could be wrong, but I don't think you have to pay tax on money earned on other countries. When you were in Indonesia, you weren't (in theory) using the resources of the US or NC, hence it is not logical to be paying them tax.
Isn't this the whole purpose of companies having the imfamous off-shore accounts we always hear about in the news?
 
Well I was a contractor for an American company and had to fill out tax forms when I was hired. So I'm in the system. I'm a little less worried about the federal taxes, but terrified of what state tax might be. I basically doubled my income with this job, so basically my state job as only deducted state tax on half of what I've earned.

If I understand correctly, I can deduct my state taxes from my federal, but still it will be a monster.
 
I don't see the difference. The military guys who goes out of the country don't pay taxes on what they earn when gone.
 
It shouldn't matter that you're "in the system". Yes, you will have to report it, but you should find that theere is another lien where you subtract this amount off of your taxable income. E.g. not be taxed on it.
As far as the state of NC is concerned, it dosn't matter where you were. You might as well have been in Kentucky or Nebraska. You just weren't here. So they shouldn't tax you on it.
Shinton will probably be speaking up here soon and correcting me...
 
Go to a CPA this year. The fee is deductable, subject to 2% threshold. You will get a credit for the taxes paid to the foreign country. NC tax law I am not sure, but tend to agree to the above in that it was earned outside of NC, thus not subject.
 
income earned outside of NC is not taxable by NC, unless it was not taxed where it was earned. For example, when I live in NC and work in VA, I have to fill out a non-resident VA tax form and pay VA tax, etc. But, when I work in SC, I pay NC tax because SC doesn't require me to pay state tax if I"m a non-resident. Either way, I have to pay the tax, it all depends on the laws where you were working. Each state's laws are different, hence having to pay VA taxes but not SC's taxes...

If you already paid taxes on it as required by Indonesia, then NC shouldn't be able to tax you on it.
 
I used Jackson Hewitt this year. The girl really helped me out with understanding items that could be used as tax deductions/credits. Just my .02
 
Paul,

Last 2 years I used H&R Block in Arlington Village. They were decent and no real complaints except that I think I could have done it much faster if they let me on the damn computer...

Some of the people in there (like last year) were questionable as to their abilities, but I got everything I expected to get and then some, so no major complaints except it took waaaay to much time in there...

Last 2 years there was a girl in there, Beshela Smith. She is a student at ECU working on her Doctorates in Accounting and Finance (Robert and I both had her as a teacher in one of the finance classes). She is straight to the point and gets the job done. If shes still there this year, thats who I'd recommend going to.
 
paulevans76 said:
I've got my KY ready for this tax season, and I'm looking for some advice on either going H&R or hiring a CPA, or whatever I can do to improve my chances of not eating out of trashcans starting April 16.
My dillema: I had a normal state job from jan-may, then took a leave of absence and worked in indonesia from june-aug, then picked back up at my old job in sept. I made a good chunk of dough, and i had to pay 20% indo income tax already (have legal, stamped, signed documentation). I have a shitload of reciepts for business expenses to organize.
I would normally just do my own taxes, but with the international thing, I'm thinking it would be worth it to get professional help so as to not be audited or something.
Advice please! TIA :beer:
Click to expand...


Go to a decent CPA.
You won't get DBL taxed you can get a credit for the tax you have already paid. It will depend on what rate what you paid out of country. At least that's what my wife yelled from the other room.
(btw she is CPA specializing in tax for 20 years or so)
Form 1116 she thinks is what you need.
 
Durn, getting to offer services twice in one night, glad to help you out if you want to hire a CPA firm. (Gofer/Donna is right on track here)

Basically income EARNED while working in another country will be an extra form or two to see what part (if not 100%) will be taxed in US. I too suspect that NC will not be getting their hands on it since this was a specific job OUTSIDE of the state.

Here is where things COULD have gotten fuzzy, if you worked both IN and OUT of the state for the same job. For instance, I get paid salary, and they send me to SC for a week, I still pay all my taxes to NC. They send me to SC for 6 months, we are getting right on the skinny edge and it will depend if I got an apt while there, came home on weekends etc.

I am NOT the tax partner at the CPA firm, Gail is, (Donna/Gofer actually did ALOT more tax than I did/do...my expertise is Quickbooks/Accounting Software, etc)

So, don't use H&R Blockheads this year either, they MIGHT do this right...or they MIGHT not...not worth any savings. AND from what I understand they charge per form anyway and you won't spend that much more on a good CPA.

So with all that said, I am in Greensboro, we have clients literally all over the world/can use phone/mail etc if you want to use us, if not, hit the yellow pages and find a local/small CPA firm.

Sam
 
well one thing that I thought might throw a wrench in things is that I was paid by my boss who's company is located in NC. I worked for his company, though the work was performed in Indonesia. I could have gotten out of paying income tax there if I'd filled out some extra paperwork about a month and a half prior to leaving, but nobody knew this until we were already there, had a sponsor through the company we were doing the contract work for, filled out all the work visa stuff, etc.

My boss's company was paid by the Indonesian company, and that is the money that was filtered to us. Maybe I am overthinking all of this, but the payroll transaction occurred between his NC business and my NC bank account, so I just hope my Indonesian tax receipts and work visa are enough to convince NC to keep their mits to themselves.
 
one more thing, my suitcase o' receipts is mostly in indonesian currency. do cpa's use a specific currency exchange rate? what I mean is, do I just go look up any old currency exchange website or do I need to look for a specific source? I always just based it off of what comes up on my vista desktop thingy, and I have no idea where they get it from.

and also thanks for the advice everyone!
 
thanks :lol:
 
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