# US tax forms, entering hotel address plus email



## aeolion (May 6, 2014)

For years I preferred not to be too noticeable to the IRS, but now that I am undertaking streamlining, I am motivated to stay in touch. The problem is we camp out in NZ for six months a year, and honest to god, on our NZ fishing license, our permanent address is FMT139, which is our minivan plates. It took a while, but Fish and Game finally accepted it.

In addition, we do the gypsy thing in Thailand, from BKK to Chiang Mai to wherever, for the other six months.

This presents a problem when dealing with the address fields on the FBARs and 1040s. An invitation to a meeting from the IRS that is delivered to where we were three months ago might lead the IRS to think we are ignoring them. 

It would all be easy if we could enter "Please use the following email address when contacting us." But....

Any suggestions?

aeolion


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The IRS doesn't tend to communicate by e-mail, in part because there have been quite a few "clever" e-mail scams involving messages that appear to be coming from the IRS. If you ever get an e-mail out of the blue from the IRS, feel free to delete it unread. 

The question, I suppose, is where are you considered legally resident? Including for such things as taxes, receiving income, etc. What address have you given your banks and/or brokers (since, if you have to fill out FBARs, you must have some financial accounts subject to reporting)? That would be the address to use in filing your tax forms.
Cheers,
Bev


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## aeolion (May 6, 2014)

(I tried to post this as an edit of the original post, but I couldn't find the edt button.)

I have been searching around and found this in an IRS manual: "The IRS must have on file a permanent address for the taxpayer. This official permanent address is known as the 'Last Known Address.'" 

Our problem is illustrated by this: Everything we own will fit into two 20kg checkable bags and a couple of carry-ons.

A serious question: Will we have to settle in an apartment somewhere until we get the OK that streamlining has gone through? Or just turn all the forms in and hope for the best?


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## aeolion (May 6, 2014)

Bev, I have my modest assets in banks in Korea, and I go back to Korea once a year to take care of them. For the banks, I still use an obsolete address I moved away from in 2009, when I left Korea.

I can of course use this address for the IRS, and thus satisfy the need for "Last Known Address." My concern is that they might send a crucial letter there, and it would have no chance of ever getting into my hands.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I think that's kind of the point - they need an address where you can be reached. If you have to, take out one of those mail box addresses, where they can send you any mail that arrives. Or give them the address of a friend or family member who can forward mail to you as needed.

For whatever address you used for the streamlined filing, make sure you update them on where and how you can be contacted, just in case the IRS decides to "get in touch."

I'm assuming you don't have visas for the countries you visit in your wanderings, because generally the immigration authority wants to have a contact address for foreigners. But if you do, I would use the same address that you use for your visas.
Cheers,
Bev


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## aeolion (May 6, 2014)

Bev, I am in a bind here. You imagine a world where everybody has family and friends, or at least a base where they can check their mail or have a friend do it. Imagine instead a retiree with no family left and a compulsion to move on. For something as simple as a visa application addresses, there are various cheap hotels, presented as apartments. Nobody does anything by mail anymore, anyway. Except the IRS.

Or imagine a drifter from some cheap western, a loner (but with a like-minded wife). 

So here is the question: How long will it take the IRS to notify me if I am in compliance? We can get a little apartment for six months or even a year and use it as my address.

I know all this would have been prevented if I had filed on time, so it is a kind of punishment -- six months or a year under Chiang Mai house arrest. 

aeolion


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

There's a whole mail forwarding industry in the United States catering to recreational vehicle (RV) owners. As long as the IRS (and every other government agency that might need to reach you) can reach you by postal mail somehow, that'll work. Your mailing address doesn't necessarily have to be where you physically happen to reside at a particular moment in time.

If you'd like to investigate signing up for the services of a mail forwarder in the U.S., use your favorite Internet search engine and use the terms: postal mail forwarding USA. You'll get links to many companies offering that service. Some of them will even scan and e-mail or fax documents to you (for a charge), and some scan the outside of every piece of mail and let you decide, via the Internet, what to discard, what to forward (as paper), and what to scan and forward. There are many service variations at many different prices.

Also be sure that you include a daytime telephone number that actually works on your tax return. The IRS sometimes telephones taxpayers, especially if postal mail doesn't appear to be working. A virtual U.S. number might be useful for this purpose assuming it has voicemail and/or forwarding, and there are many such options, including some free (or potentially free) ones.

If you want a free postal mail option in New Zealand (and in some other countries) there's something called Poste Restante (General Delivery). This service assumes that you (or possibly a designated representative) will be able to stop by a specific post office in New Zealand at least every three months. Only certain post office locations offer this service. To use this service a sender would address your mail as follows (using the Poste Restante designated post office in Auckland as an example):

Your Full Name
Poste Restante
Ground Floor,
Bledisloe Bldg.
24 Wellesley Street
Auckland 1010
NEW ZEALAND

There is no charge for this service for letters, documents, and small parcels (under 2 Kg). I would not recommend receiving large parcels this way unless you can pick them up within 7 days. Otherwise you get hit with storage charges that are pretty expensive. If you cannot pick up your mail at that specific post office within the three month period then your unclaimed mail will be returned to sender. It appears that this service is offered at 45 post offices throughout New Zealand.

Poste Restante service also appears to be available in Thailand, but it's probably not as reliable as New Zealand's service.

On edit: I notice that the mail forwarders in South Dakota allow you to get a South Dakota driver's license if that's of interest, although it does require one physical trip to South Dakota. South Dakota has an unusually liberal definition of state residence. If you cannot be considered a resident of any other U.S. state, then South Dakota is willing to take you provided you have a mailbox there. That includes voting in South Dakota, would you believe. All of this is rather popular among RV owners, though typically RV owners are nomadic within North America. But nomads outside North America are accepted, too.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

No, I'm not imagining anything. I know what you're talking about. Frankly, in your situation I kind of wonder why you wanted to bother with filing your back taxes at all. 

I wouldn't hold my breath to hear from the IRS as to whether or not they've "accepted" your back filings. They normally only contact you if there are problems. And unless those Korean bank accounts are pretty large and throwing off amounts of interest big enough to generate some significant tax liability, just file your future tax returns and FBARs from whatever address you're at when you do them.

The IRS aren't the only ones who still rely on postal mail (at least for formal notifications) - in part because they (and other government agencies) tend to insist on your having some "tax residence" if nothing else. 

But I wouldn't worry in your case. Enjoy - if the IRS really needs to find you, I suppose they'll send a drone or something, but if you don't owe any back taxes, they probably won't bother calling you in for an interview.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

FYI, in between tax returns you'd use IRS Form 8822 to notify them of a change of address. One awkward but probably workable strategy if you alternate between Thailand and New Zealand is to send a pair of Form 8822s each year. You send each one about 6 weeks before your last visit to the post office handling your Poste Restante mail.

However, nomads (without less nomadic trusted friends or family) are probably better off enlisting the services of a postal mail forwarder with Internet-based service. The U.S. is a pretty good place to have a postal mailbox with a mail forwarder at least for mail order purchasing purposes never mind the government-related purposes. Singaporeans do a lot of online shopping in the U.S. with the help of mail forwarders, as an example.

Here's another idea: get a "global roaming SIM," and provide that phone number to individuals and government agencies that might need to reach you while you live nomadically. Either keep an extra (cheap, usually) mobile phone on hand with that global roaming SIM installed, or get a "dual SIM" mobile phone which can hold and use two SIMs concurrently. I see there are several global roaming SIMs that offer free incoming calling to both New Zealand and Thailand.


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## aeolion (May 6, 2014)

BBCWatcher, 

I am now the proud owner of a double SIM card phone. Thanks.

aeolion


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