US Tax Assistance Based in the Philippines

Your subject states US Tax Assistance, though your question seems to indicate otherwise. Are you as a Philippines citizen looking for tax assistance for Philippines taxes?

Hi, thanks for your comment. Apologies if I was not clear with my initial post. I am a US citizen but lived majority of my life outside the States which includes all my years working as a professional. Hope this gives more clarity to my situation.

Since your tax problems involve former years, I'm wondering if the US has just overlooked you. I know you're supposed to file taxes for the US even if you're not living
there. I don't have the time to look it up, but the info IS available, Gor one thing, if you stayed out of the US for 360-consecutive days/year, I'm pretty sure you won't have to pay taxes. There is also a cutoff figure-if you earned below a certain amount,you won't
have to file either. But in any case, you should find a REPUTABLE tax lawyer, notary, or
whatever. The problem is finding one who won't rip you off, so you'll have to search all
the expats you can, especially one who could recommend an honest person Hope that helps!

neiman_88 wrote:

I was only made aware that I needed to file taxes even though I'm based abroad and even if my combined annual income is well within the limit for tax exclusion for foreign earned income. I worked in 2 countries (Philippines and Qatar) for a combined total of 5 years but I'm currently based in the former and none of those working years were filed. Can anyone recommend me to a credible tax accountant here in the Philippines to assist me as I need to know how much penalties will be incurred as well as to help me with the paperwork as I know there are quite a number of forms to complete.

Thanks and appreciate all the feedback from the community.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Neiman,

The link below will detail your tax liabilities for the 2015 tax year. Having had some experience in the past with the IRS while working abroad, you may find that even though you have been out of the U.S. working for 330 days out of the past 2015 calendar year to qualify for no tax debt providing your earned income did not exceed $100,800.00 USD for the 2015 tax year. You will most likely still owe Social Security taxes if no contributions have been made by you or your employer.

If you are a US citizen and self-employed in a foreign country, you are still required to pay US Social Security and Medicare taxes on your earnings. You will pay both the employee and employer portion via Schedule SE on your US Expat Taxes. However, if you are an employee of a foreign employer and required to pay taxes into the foreign country's social security equivalent, you may not be required to pay US Social Security tax.

Tax preparation:
While their are many US based tax prep services for US taxpayers living abroad. Depending on the complexity of the return, you can prepare your own through the IRS website or with software such as Turbo tax.
That being said, in your case where you have not filed for many years you may want some help and it can be expensive on a case to cases basis.
Commercial preparation service providers such as H&R Block offer 800 numbers with some free advice and they may point you in the right direction.

There are also some listed tax services in the Phil which have no association with this website or myself so in contacting them I would caution you meet with them face to face and decide for yourself if they are credible.
http://www.acareturnpreparerdirectory.c … hilippines

Tax liability links and answers:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf

A couple more links containing information with regard to tax liability abroad.

http://www.expatinfodesk.com/expat-guid … liability/https://www.irs.gov/individuals/interna … ens-abroad

Regards,

TeeJay

Hi TeeJay,
Many thanks for the detailed response. Appreciate all the info you've provided as you may know I am a bit unfamiliar with the entire process, especially that I have tax filing dues for previous years as well.

I am aware that although my annual salary on all my working years are well below the maximum allowed foreign income exclusion (around $ 100k for 2015), tax still needs to be filed. Missing all those years will mean fines for sure, which is why it is critical for me to consult to a legit and capable tax consultant. Already tried with Turbo Tax but I need to have a US billing and postal address, both of which I do not have at the moment. Haven't tried with H&R Block and the others though. I haven't been flagged by the IRS either, but I don't that to wait for the time that they do. Just want to make sure I settle the issues at this relatively early stage.

Thanks for the help and I will get back to you if I require further tips.

All the best. Cheers.

Neinam,

Glad to be of some help. I spoke with the gentleman David last night that I referred you to and he said he would be glad to help.

If you have the time, let us know how it turned out for you.

Best wishes,

TeeJay

Hi TeeJay,
Seem be unable to find David's contact details in the thread above (I was able to only have a glimpse when you sent it first time around). Can you send his full contact details so that I can liaise with him directly?

Appreciate the support.

All the best.

neiman_88 wrote:

Hi TeeJay,
Seem be unable to find David's contact details in the thread above (I was able to only have a glimpse when you sent it first time around). Can you send his full contact details so that I can liaise with him directly?

Appreciate the support.

All the best.

It was originally sent to you as a private message. At the top of the expat.com page you will see an envelope icon, simply click that for private messages. I will resend the information in a private message to you.

Teejay

May I assist you? My accountant is 100% fully knowledgeable to assist you. He did me after 26 years of arrears as a dual citizen. Paul Keating. Of Keating and Chillingsworth. He's located here and in the USA. he's very good.

Paul

Paul A. Keating, CPA

Managing Member

Ohio USA & Philippines Offices

Phone:     1-937-412-1415 (Worldwide)

Fax:         1-937-835-6015

Cell:    +63-927-894-8547 (PH cell)

Email:  [email protected]

Hi everyone,

@ dok49, if you could please recommend your accountant in the business directory under the Accountants in the Philippines section, it will be highly appreciated. Members will be able to access his contact details when needed.

Thanks in advance,
Bhavna