# Need International Tax Accountant Recommendation



## Rhonnie (Nov 23, 2015)

Hi Everyone,

I am a US Citizen living in Scotland. I have dual US / UK Citizenship due to marriage to a British Citizen. The children and I are living in Scotland and my husband (British with NO USA ties other than marriage) is temporarily living in Switzerland. I am looking for an International Tax Accountant to file my US taxes this year, as well as look at any requirements for past filing, as we are all as a family looking to move to the USA next year.

I have previously filed UK / USA taxes when working. However, I have not filed in the last 6 years as I no longer earn an income. I do have a house in the USA that I rent out to family for peanuts!

I have absolutely not time or energy to wade through all the new convoluted International Tax information at this time! I would be extremely grateful for any recommendations for an International Accountant located in Scotland or England who can ensure I am tax compliant.

Best Wishes,
Rhonnie


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

There is at least one Enrolled Agent in Scotland (based on my search on the NAEA site). An Enrolled Agent is someone who is specifically certified by the IRS to prepare taxes and represent their clients before the IRS (if necessary - usually not). https://member.naea.org/naeassa/rflssareferral.query_page?p_vendor_ty=EA and be sure to change the "distance" space to Please select (i.e. you don't need to search by distance) and the Country to UK. 

Otherwise, unless your financial situation is somehow complicated, you may be able to get by with one of the online free tax preparation software (TurboTax and TaxSlayer are the only ones that seem to work consistently for those of us overseas). 

Most folks here have found that tax accountants are dreadfully expensive, even when dealing with a fairly simple tax form. If you're mainly filing to have "evidence" for your spouse visa application, it should be enough to make a good faith effort and be done with it.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Rhonnie (Nov 23, 2015)

Hi Bev, 
To be honest, I don't know how complicated it is going to be, which is why I would like some advice / help. I have never prepared my own taxes. H&R Block met my needs as a 20 something then in the UK my husband and I had a Ltd. company, and our accountant did it as part of the service, which was reasonably priced, but he was not an expert by any means on US Tax. I purchased a small house in the USA approximately 6 years ago. I haven't filed for 6 years. I'm dual US / UK. He's only UK. I live in Scotland. He's in Switzerland. I am at a complete loss as to where to even begin! Hopefully, I can find someone that will help walk me through the process this year and then I will feel brave enough to take on the IRS myself from here on out! Thank you for the naea site and TurboTax / Taxslayer. I shall have a look. Best Wishes, Rhonda


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Do you expect your worldwide income situation to change, or has it changed?

If the answer is no, and if you have no other reason(s) to fill out a U.S. tax return, then you should have a very simple situation. I can only think of two possible forms remaining:

1. You would fill out the relatively simple FinCEN Form 114 every spring (northern hemisphere) if you have signature authority over a total of $10,000 or more in non-U.S. financial accounts, including joint accounts for example.

2. You'd file IRS Form 3520 _in some cases_ if you have a non-U.S. trust or receive a gift from a non-U.S. entity.

It's up to you whether you want to hire somebody to fill out these forms. FinCEN Form 114 is pretty darn easy. IRS Form 3520 is a little more work. If it applies I might consider hiring somebody to fill out that form for me the first time around then, assuming my situation doesn't change, I might handle it in subsequent years.


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## jbr439 (Nov 17, 2013)

BBCWatcher said:


> ...
> 2. You'd file IRS Form 3520 _in some cases_ if you have a non-U.S. trust or receive a gift from a non-U.S. entity.
> ...


Note that FWIW, in Canada at least it's trivial to have a "foreign trust" as 2 very common tax advantaged accounts are considered "foreign trusts" by the US. These are the TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account, similar to the US Roth IRA) and the RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan, similar to the US 529 Plan). So, you would need to check your accounts and try to determine if they are considered "foreign trusts". Don't expect any help from the IRS on this, as you will not be able to get a useful response if you ask about a specific account type. I think the ISA is a "foreign trust", but am not 100% sure.

Note also that non-US domiciled mutual funds and ETFs are usually considered to be PFICs (Passive Foreign Investment Company), and PFICs can have a world of hurt associated with them in terms of forms and taxation.


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