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RVF Tax Lounge
02-05-2015, 11:23 PM
Hey guys,
I did a quick search and didn't really find anything like this yet. I'm a tax accountant licensed in the states. With the upcoming filing season up, I'm more than happy to field one-off questions for anyone.
So...I'm a tax accountant, AMA.
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-05-2015, 11:25 PM
Something that happened to me recently:
If you guys simply have W-2 income, it's best to just use turbotax. Anyone that has some type of business should seriously go out and find a CPA. One of my friends is a day trader using turbotax, and it just isn't built for that. Stop being cheap and get help.
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-06-2015, 12:03 AM
What is the total list of documents I need to incorporate a business?
I started a small S corp and so far I have
-Article of incorporation in my state
-Federal EIN number
-Stockholders agreement
I still need corporate bylaws, and issue stock certificates, IRS form 2553 and what else?
Also what are the mechanics of creating stock certificates? Can I type and print them myself or is there some registration process?
I asked an attorney and he charges $1500 to incorporate so I said fuck that. Other than completeing corporate by-laws Im not sure what else I need to do.
All the information online is very fragmented I can't find a definitive guide on the exact documents I need.
thanks
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-06-2015, 12:19 AM
Expat tax question:
In 2014, John Doe successfully transitioned his online business from a Sole Proprietorship [BETA & ASSOCIATES] to an overseas-incorporated limited company [PAPI RICO LTD]. As of June 15, 2014 John began doing business under his new company name: he filed all necessary incorporation documents through his legal counsel, and overseas incorporation specialist. On that same date, John informed all of his preexisting clients of all changes, including his new company's name, physical address, webpage, and email. All invoices sent after June 15 reflected this information. PAPI RICO LTD was officially incorporated in the overseas jurisdiction on July 1, 2014.
Project 1 was ordered on June 15. Services were performed between June 16-20. An invoice was sent on July 1, and payment was collected on July 2, 2015.
Project 2 was ordered on June 29. Services were performed between June 29 and July 5. An invoice was sent on July 6 and payment was collected on July 7, 2015.
Project 3 was ordered on June 30. Services were performed between July 1 and July 15. An invoice was sent on July 15 and payment was promptly collected.
All services were performed overseas. All payments were received in the United States. John is unquestionably eligible for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion: he spent a total of 14 days in the United States in 2014 and is the sole director and shareholder of the overseas entity.
Which of the 3 projects (if any) may John lawfully claim as income of PAPI RICO LTD, hence income subject to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion?
Your advice on this matter is highly appreciated.
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-11-2015, 08:50 AM
Do you only know US tax law, or do you have knowledge about international tax-minimizing strategies?
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-11-2015, 06:01 PM
If you take section 179 depreciation on an asset then remove it from the corporation by any means (sale, dividend, compensation, whatever) you need to then recapture the depreciation as ordinary income. So basically there is no benefit for doing it.
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-12-2015, 03:26 PM
Yes by mileage.
I don't really know how to explain this in layman's terms but here is my attempt. Whatever percentage of mileage you drive for business is multiplied by the cost of vehicle and that becomes your cost basis for the auto. You can take a section 179 deduction on your cost basis of the auto. This will change on a yearly basis depending on your personal/business usage. If it decreases you have to recapture some of what you previously took a 179 deduction on. You are required to keep a mileage log detailing business vs. personal usage.
In theory, you could lie and say that it is 100% business usage and then deduct the full price of the vehicle and drive it around Canada all you want. Just hope that you don't get audited, but chances are that you won't.
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-12-2015, 07:43 PM
I just wanted to point out that the "audit protection" that companies like "turbo tax" sell usually only go so far as the offers in compromise part of the audit process. If you have a disagreement on the law or the facts that necessitates going to Tax Court, you will be paying for lawyers on yourself. I've seen a few people get burned.
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-14-2015, 11:47 AM
In this case you could do a tax free exchange and not have to pay taxes until you disposed of the trade in. The basis will transfer to the new vehicle, so you couldn't depreciate it in this case, because you already would have taken the 179. It is most commonly done with real estate, but you can do it for all sorts of business assets, even businesses themselves. There are some specific requirements that must be fulfilled though in order for it to be legitimate.
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RVF Tax Lounge
02-14-2015, 12:34 PM
Let say you have a doctor who operates as a sole-prop ( medical/dental liability pierces the coporate veil)
Said doctor also owns the real estate that the office sits on.
Q1: You can not pay rent to yourself as a sole prop. Is that correct?
Q2: If the doctor sold a minimal share of business (say 5-10%) to a partner, can the business (partnership or other joint venture company aka LLC or S-corp) start writing rent checks to doctor?
^^^From my understanding, rent expenses will lower self-employment taxes, FICA and social security
Q3: Considering this is a minority share of the business (lack of control and liquidity), what discount can you apply to this minority share of business? What passes the bullshit smell test?
_____________________________________
Foreign national family member (grandfather) passes away.
Inheritance share is roughly 100k. From brief research, this shouldn't be a problem to bring into the country (Form 3250).
Q1: Any special precautions I should take?
Q2: I have family members who might occasionally want to give me gifts. From a brief read of the IRS form 3250, its roughly 15k/person but each family counts as 1 person (related persons). <--- I might be misunderstanding this
How far does one extend this family interaction? Say you have ten cousins? How about family of your cousin? This whole section is just riddled with holes
How much $ before a red flag gets set off? 50k? 100k?
WIA- For most of men, our time being masters of our own fate, kings in our own castles is short. Even those of us in the game will eventually succumb to ease of servitude rather than deal with the malaise of solitude