To prepare your tax return
These documents will not be submitted to the IRS. We only use them to check the details you provide in the Tax Questionnaire (TQ).
The goal is to protect you from receiving an inquiry from the IRS - which is very likely if the details on your tax return do not correspond to the information IRS obtains elsewhere.
IF YOU | WE'LL NEED |
---|---|
Pay taxes in your resident country | Document showing amount of tax paid in your resident country - the Annual Tax Summary or a copy of the resident country tax declaration.For example - UK P-60, Australian NOA or Hong Kong BIR-60 |
Visited the United States during the year | Calendar of your U.S. visits |
Filed U.S. tax return in the last 3 years | Your last filed US / State tax return |
Have dependent children | Details about your children - names & social security numbers |
Have dependent children |
We’ll need copies of these forms (i.e., 1099-MISC, 1099-R, 1099-B, 1098-T, etc) They are issued by U.S. financial institutions (such as banks or investment companies) and are sent both to the IRS and the taxpayer. |
TYPE OF INCOME EARNED | DOCUMENTS WE ASK |
---|---|
Wage employment | Any document (formal or informal) with Employer name showing amount of wages received throughout the year and tax withheld. Alternatively pay stubs as a substitute. |
Investment income/loss | Year-end financial institution statement |
Employer stock options | Document with details of stock option grant and/or stock option exercise |
Foreign pension benefits | Year-end bank statement from the institution where the pension is held |
Alimony, unemployment | If alimony recipient has a Social Security number, please provide it. |
Real estate income | Proof of mortgage interest paid on rental property |
Please see our page for small business owners. We will not ask you for any documents supporting income or loss from an unincorporated business as long as all income was from sources outside the US.
Keep the log of cash receipts and report the total amount on Self-Employment questionnaire.
Please download Camscanner and you can easily use your phone to make clear PDF images.
Alternatively, you can find a Kinkos-type store and ask them to scan and email the documents to you. As you see the list of required documents is short, so it should not cost you much. Faxing is the worst option because the quality of faxed documents is subpar.
We do not ask for an complete translation of the entire document. However, depending on your situation we may ask that you provide English translation for certain items on the foreign document.
Then we will simply prepare your return solely based on the information you provide us. However, you have to understand the risk from incorrect data reporting as we would not be able to cross-check your information.
Which you know should have arrived (i.e. form W2 from a previous employer) - then we recommend to obtain a copy of your tax account from the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript
If you report any U.S. income on your return that does not exactly match the figures that IRS receives (they receive copies of all these forms we ask you), this will invariably result in manual review of your tax return and follow up letters from the IRS.