Americans: The Taxman Cometh

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KHONDAHM
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by KHONDAHM » March 9, 2012, 10:37 pm

Holding USD in a Thai account? Surprise, surprise! Enforcement of law to begin 2013.

IRS cracking down on U.S. expat taxpayers
Steep penalties for Americans who don't comply with U.S. tax laws
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/taxseas ... ml?cmp=rss


Enjoy this site much more by adding idiots to your ignore list (Friends & Foes tab).
http:\\www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/ucp.php? ... &mode=foes

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Stantheman
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by Stantheman » March 9, 2012, 11:58 pm

I do not think most U.S. citizens expats in Thailand need to worry based on the 'New' totals required to be reported in foreign bank accounts. But you better watch out KD, next thing you know the IRS will be checking out all that Gold you are hoarding and will try to get their hands on some of it :-)

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Charlieb
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by Charlieb » March 10, 2012, 8:21 am

I haven't had to pay tax on it but have to report any amount in a foreign bank and mail Form TD F 90-22-1 to Dept of the Treasury by June. If you use something like TurboTax it will take care of that for you. All you will have to do is mail to where they tell you.

FWIW, the Taxman only cometh for about 51% of us. The other 48% pay no taxes :cry:

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Charlieb
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by Charlieb » March 10, 2012, 8:23 am

Oops, typo there. Should be 49% pay nothing

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greatsnake
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by greatsnake » March 10, 2012, 10:32 am

Charlieb wrote:Oops, typo there. Should be 49% pay nothing
[-X

This is what happens when people get their information from Fox News instead of thinking for themselves.

Firstly, what is being discussed here in US Federal Income taxes, which comprises only about 40% of federal revenue. Another 40% of federal revenue comes from payroll taxes, which almost every legal working American pays.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing ... evenue.cfm

Next, there is this myth in America that the money individuals pay into social security is put into “an account, or lock-box” where it stays until the individual is eligible to withdraw from it. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is those payroll taxes go into the general revenue for the US government.

In NESTOR 363 U.S. 603, the US Supreme Court ruled that nobody has a right to Social Security benefits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemming_v._Nestor
That's right, a few votes from Congress and Social Security benefits are gone. Given the economic and political trends of the US, it is very likely younger Americans will see little of those taxes, and it's most likely they will get nothing at all. The important point is that those who pay payroll taxes have no right to the benefits, anymore than someone who pays Federal Income taxes has a right to any other federal expenditure. Payroll taxes are just as much of a tax as any other tax.

So what is the real fiscal problem with the US government. As I have previously stated, there is no “lock-box” where payroll taxes are put for individual taxpayers. Social Security and Medicare are pay as you go schemes. That means those working and paying now are not paying for themselves but for the people currently receiving benefits. This is the core of the problem. The “baby-boomer” generation, aka the current old people, literally paid in pennies compared the the huge amounts they are receiving or will receive in benefits.

http://www.ssa.gov/oact/ProgData/taxRates.html

So, for someone who is currently 70 years old, he/she paid a payroll tax rate FAR LESS then than someone who is in their 20s or 30s. Of course, that 70 year old probably had an employer provided health care plan and also a company defined benefit pension plan, “luxuries" which few workers have today.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/historicaltables.pdf

http://stateofworkingamerica.org/charts ... -coverage/

The problem with the United States’ fiscal position is NOT the 49% who “pay no taxes”. These people are primarily younger Americans who have seen their jobs and careers exported overseas by the tens of millions and whose wages have been stagnet for more than 30 years.

The problem is the old people who have and do want benefits but didn’t and don’t want to pay for them. This is why you see the “tea-baggers” who hold up signs at their rallys which say on one side “Get the Government out of my Healthcare” and on the other “Don’t touch my Medicare”. These old people are the ones who vote Republican every election but who wouldn't, in a million years, vote for someone who truly believes in limited government, like Ron Paul.

All of this data is freely and openly provided. All it takes is someone who wishes to understand the true nature of problems in the US. Of course, for everyone else there is always Fox News. :lol:

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Charlieb
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by Charlieb » March 10, 2012, 3:45 pm

Why do you feel the need to belittle a simple post? You are the great know it all?

I get infomation from a lot of sources, Fox News included. But I also avail myself of the more liberal MSNBC as well. Part of the freedom we enjoy is to be able to read and watch whatever we like.

I agree that my statement did not include Payroll Taxes but of course we don't file Payroll Taxes every year on April 15th do we? I thought we were talking about Federal Income Tax.

An interesting article from USA today quoting the Detroit Free Press, certainly not a conservative paper, talks about some of the issues you raised and some of the reasons why they say 47% pay no Federal Income Tax. Please note that it is not all low income people. It is all walks of life; liberals, conservatives, black, whites, etc.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/s ... 50676912/1

So please allow the rest of us to have an opinion also even though it may not fit into your world!

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greatsnake
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by greatsnake » March 10, 2012, 6:39 pm

Charlieb wrote:Why do you feel the need to belittle a simple post?
Because your post is an insult to the 100,000,000 + Americans who shell out payroll taxes to pay for Social Security and Medicare benefits to (mostly) the very same people who belittle/ignore their contribution.

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parrot
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by parrot » March 11, 2012, 8:40 pm

It's a shame, really, that today's generation won't have the experience of gathering up a pile of tax forms, W-2's, 1099's, and other associated paperwork......then filling in all the blanks, double checking the figures, signing, mailing, and then waiting 6 or, more likely, more weeks to receive a return (if so lucky). Oh, yeah, then keeping a hard copy of all the paperwork for 5 or more years on file.
Today, I did my taxes......same free online tax program as last year (freetaxusa.com). It had last year's info on file, so all I did was edit the figures to reflect this year's income/dividends/interest, then add a current date and file electronically. I should have my return in my bank account in about 7 days. No signatures, no stamps, no envelopes, and not a single piece of paper in the filing cabinet. Everything is in a single digital file folder of less than a megabyte.....one copy stored on the cloud, one on a thumb drive at home.
Technology.......you gotta love it!

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parrot
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by parrot » February 22, 2015, 7:56 pm

It's been a few years since I last posted on taxes......but the process is still the same. Filing for free on freetaxusa.com. It almost (almost) makes filing taxes a joy. No signatures, not a single piece of paper, no need to do even a single mathematical calculation, no envelopes or stamps to lick, you file today and you'll probably get your return within a week....deposited directly to your bank account.
My annual tip-o-the-hat to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates for making life so much easier.

leterry60614
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by leterry60614 » February 23, 2015, 9:52 am

Same same, still have to enter FBAR before June.

tigerryan
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Americans: The Taxman Cometh

Post by tigerryan » March 5, 2015, 2:10 am

There Is no way I could prepare my own US taxes, no frigging way! Add in some foreign returns with income and foreign taxes paid in a couple countries and most CPA will look at you like your the problem. I Just copied my form 1040 and associated ---- mass of schedules and other forms 134 pages! The regular tax accounting bill from my CPA is $6200.00 for my 1040 and schedules monthly and quarterly filings included this is just for the effort of pulling it all together. I also received a $2000 penalty for failure to make a quarterly estimated payment on time because I cant keep track of all of the ---- going on in my paperwork world. The good part is the personal tax prep is easy compared to accounting for my small business all in all I pay about 14K a year in bookkeeping and tax prep. The tax bill is another massive issue of my discontent but not the point of this rant. I'm happy tax filing is simple and free for some people. For small business owners the tax system is at best a poor allocation of finite resource and I believe its designed to simply punish and frustrate net tax payers......It should be simple for everyone and not be punitive for people still trying to make a buck!

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