If you are an American citizen or a permanent resident (green card holder), living
or doing business in Thailand and you need help with your US tax returns, MSNA
has a solution for you.
MSNA, Thailand accounting company that handles the accounts of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand and many of its members, has been helping many American expatriates to prepare their US income tax returns.
We at MSNA together with our American CPA partners can help you ease the burden of filing your US tax returns. You don’t have to fly back to U.S.A. or spend a long time on your computer to study how to file your tax returns with the U.S. Federal tax authorities. No matter which state you came from, our team of US tax professionals will help take care of your US tax returns while you enjoy your comfortable life here in Thailand, the Land of Smiles.
For individual U.S. citizens and/or expatriates tax payers, the rules for filing
income, estate, and gift tax returns and paying estimated tax are generally the
same whether you are in the U.S.A. or Thailand because you are still required
to file your U.S. income tax returns and report your worldwide income with the
U.S. federal and state tax authorities, regardless of where you reside.
U.S. Tax Returns
In the U.S.A., tax returns are the reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with the state or local tax collection agency. These returns are generally prepared using forms prescribed by the IRS or other applicable taxing authorities.
Under the Internal Revenue Code, returns can be either classified as tax returns
or information returns, although the term “tax return” is used often. Tax
returns are reports of tax liabilities and payments, often including financial
information used to compute the income tax or other taxes. This report refers
to the documents filed with the IRS such as Form 1040 which is the standard US
individual tax return form although there are several variations of this form
such as 1040EZ, 1040A and other supplemental forms.
On the other hand, information returns are reports used to file information about
income, receipts or other matters that may affect tax liabilities. For example,
to report the amount of income of an employer, independent contractor, broker,
or other payer pays to a tax payer, they can use Form W-2 and Form 1099. Meanwhile, a company, employer, or party who has paid income to a taxpayer is required to file the applicable information return directly with the IRS. A copy of the
information return is also sent directly to the payee. These procedures enable
the IRS to make sure that taxpayers report their income correctly.
The following are the sample common US Federal tax returns and information returns:
Transfer taxes
Form 706,U.S. Estate Tax Return;
Form 709, U.S. Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return;
Statutory excise taxes
Form 720, Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return;
Form 2290, Heavy Vehicle Use Tax Return;
Form 5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans;
Employment (payroll) taxes
Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return;
Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return;
Income taxes
Form 1040,U.S. Individual Income Tax Return;
Form 1040A,U.S. Individual Income Tax Return;
Form 1040EZ, Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers with No Dependents;
Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts (for 1993 and prior years, this was known as “U.S. Fiduciary Income Tax Return”);
Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income (for 1999 and prior years, this was known as “U.S. Partnership Return of Income”) (information return);
Form 1099 series (various titles) (information return);
Form W-2 (information return);
Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return;
Form 1120S, U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation;
In the event of any misinformation, taxpayers may file an amended return with the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to correct errors on a previous income tax
return. For the numerical errors, a taxpayer does not need to file an amended
return as the IRS will make the necessary corrections. Thus for individual taxpayers, amended returns are filed using Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
When to file US tax returns?
Any tax return must be paid on or before April 15 of any year. However, if you are
living in Thailand or any other country outside U.S.A on that deadline, you are allowed for an automatic 2-month extension to file your return until June 15 to file your previous income tax returns for the previous calendar year. In case you are not
able to file your returns within June 15, you can file for an additional
extension request which extends the due date until October 15. In the event
that you are liable to submit income taxes and you were not able to pay the
estimated tax liability on April 15, you are responsible to pay additional interest
charges and related penalties for any underpayment.
If you file your income tax return each year while residing in Thailand, the
statute of limitations for IRS audits will expire three years after those tax
returns were filed. That means the IRS cannot check back any fraud or
substantial understatement of your income and try to audit or change those
returns at a later date. Thus, U.S. citizens and expatriates should always file their tax return even if they don’t have taxable income and/or any tax liabilities.
If you do not file your U.S. income tax return of a particular year, whether a return
is required or not, the statute of limitations on tax assessments for that year
never ceases. For example, if you reside overseas like Thailand for 10 years and then you return to U.S.A., the IRS may question why you did not file income tax returns for those years. In case it is proven that you intentionally avoided paying U.S.
taxes as a U.S. citizen for 10 years, the IRS has the authority to require you to pay your taxes for additional 10 years. As long as you are a U.S. citizen or expatriate,
you are always responsible to pay your U.S. taxes.
Contact MSNA when you need your prepare US tax returns.
