Warrener Stewart US Tax News

21 December 2015 • Tax Videos, US Tax returns

Now we are drawing to an end of the 2015 US tax year, here are a few updates worth noting going forward to 2016….

• Change to the FBAR filing deadline
  Starting with the 2016 tax year, the FBAR filing deadline will change and is now be due on April 15th instead of June 30th. As with your Income Tax Returns, you can apply for a 6 month extension of time to file until October 15th. This should make things a bit simpler going forward as it means we actually have a bit more time and can file at the same time as the return.
• Offshore Streamlined Filing Procedure is still open
  It remains the best time to get back into compliance with the IRS for individuals who have non-wilfully failed to file US tax returns and FBARs for some time whilst living overseas with the use of the Offshore Streamlined Filing Procedure. Using this procedure and subject to meeting the eligibility requirements  taxpayers can catch up on their affairs without incurring penalties for failure to fail and pay US taxes, however we don’t know how long this option will remain available or if any changes are likely to be made to make the terms less favourable.
• WS are now Acceptance Agents!
  Damian Talbot has now qualified as a Certified Acceptance Agent which means that Warrener Stewart can now assist Non US citizens apply for US taxpayer ID numbers (ITIN’s) which is required for filing US returns who do not hold social security numbers. This saves individuals having to apply at the US Embassy or risk the IRS losing your original documentation.
• New rates for Foreign Earned Income Exemption
  We can see a slight increase in the amount of Foreign Earned Income Exemptions available going forward to 2016 with $101,300 of foreign earnings being exemption from US tax, compared to $100,800 in 2015 and $99,200 in 2014.