Articles

Form 8802: Application for US residency certification

Form 8802, Application for United States Residency Certification, is the IRS application used to request Form 6166, the letter that confirms US tax residency for treaty or VAT purposes. The user fee is $85 for an individ...

UN income tax unit: The no-stress guide for UN employees who file US taxes

United Nations (UN) employees generally enjoy exemptions from income tax derived from their UN salaries. For US citizens and permanent residents, however, it’s not that simple. US tax law treats UN compensation differently from how most other countries do. Instead of being tax-exempt, US citizens and residents employed by the UN m...

Form 6166: IRS certificate of US tax residency explained

Form 6166 is the IRS-issued certificate that confirms a taxpayer was a US resident for federal tax purposes for a requested period. You do not complete Form 6166 yourself. You apply for it by filing Form 8802 and paying the IRS user fee. Form 6166 is issued by the IRS after approving Form 8802 – it is never filed or downlo...

IRS Form 8867: Paid preparer's due diligence checklist (2026)

IRS Form 8867 is the Paid Preparer’s Due Diligence Checklist – generally required whenever a paid tax return preparer determines eligibility for the Earned Income Credit (EIC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), or Head of Household (HOH) filing status. In some...

Jock Tax explained: what athletes, entertainers, and remote workers need to know

The Jock Tax is nonresident state or local income tax on money earned while working in another jurisdiction. For the 2025 tax year filed in 2026, it most often affects professional athletes, entertainers, traveling staff, and other high-visibility workers who perform services in more than 1 state or city. The term sound...

Dormant foreign corporation tax filing: Form 5471 and guide for US owners

A dormant foreign corporation is an inactive non-US corporation that may qualify for a shorter Form 5471 filing under Rev. Proc. 92-70, but dormancy does not automatically remove US reporting for the 2025 tax year. The IRS still looks at the owner’s Form 5471 filer category, ownership percentage, annual accounting period, and whether the co...