Yeah. When you start your own business, that should be when you talk to an accountant. Well, maybe as soon as you think you'll make enough money to pay taxes. It saves you a world of heartache.
If you held it for over year. Otherwise it's income of sale price - cost basis. Don't know about fees. I'm not an accountant, but I do know you have to hold an asset for at least 1 yr to count it as capital gains.
> I do know you have to hold an asset for at least 1 yr to count it as capital gains.
That is not true. Perhaps what you mean is that capital gains on assets held less than a year are taxed at a different rate than capital gains on assets held longer than a year?
Don't mean to get pedantic but I didn't want someone to read your comment and think that they owe no taxes on short-term capital gains. (What a crazy tax incentive that would be!)
I have used Taxes For Expats for years and have been satisfied with their software and level of service, however for my particular case they cost several hundred dollars per return.
Why is custom software necessary at all? In the Philippines, if you are registered with eFPS, and have an account in one of the accredited banks, nothing is needed except a web browser.
Makes sense. I used to prepare taxes so I appreciate the value of human insight there. I also have contempt for the industry because so few practitioners will teach easy cases to fish, or refrain from optimizing a return when the cost of prep exceeds the amount saved. (Not saying your situation is easy; it’s not.) Plus I do think it’s time the IRS stepped up automation for simple returns.
If you file a complicated tax return and the "prepared by" line is not a CPA, you get targeted as someone who probably did something wrong. The IRS is more likely to go for you.
Sorry I assumed my question implied that was what was being asked. What is the complexity because I’ve done my own taxes for two decades, every year things are nuanced and slightly different. Never have I used an accountant.
I send my bank statements, credit card bills and other documents to my accountant. He produces a return, together with optimisation advice for the coming year. It’s well worth the money. (I also have real estate, private equity, fund interests and emerging trust situations, and am multi-state.)
1. You don't have to figure out which forms to file by yourself. This quickly becomes non-trivial if you run a business, take a lot of deductions, or have weird forms of income.
2. The IRS sees that your return was prepared by a professional, so it is much less likely that they will try for an audit (since a professional will be representing you).
If your tax liability is under $100k and your return is under ~20 pages, you mostly don't need one, but an accountant also doesn't charge much either (about the same price as TurboTax).
I value my time. Learning the details of totalization agreements regarding ss contributions vs public retirement contributions for US vs. Ireland is not how I want to spend it.
It's pretty complex actually. There are multiple ways to avoid double taxation, but each have their own nuances and limitations (that can extend for years). Ideally you'd complete the return for each scenario and compare across them.
