Taxes done in philippines??

[dj3642]

Hi all I asked similar question a long time ago. But since tax season is getting here..  I want to ask once more.. I am looking for people who have their taxes done HERE in the Philippines.. I don’t have a tax man in the US.. I always did my own…. I was usually able to just use 1040EZ.. so its not complicated.. but since this will be my first year filing  here.. does anyone have a person IN the Philippines do their taxes?? I am retired .. and have no income for the last year  including SS as of now.. all I have is interest on bank accounts..  both here and in the US.. I know how to file FBARS .. I have done that before. This is strictly for taxes.. so if Anyone has any suggestions. I would appreciate it. I was looking up Expats H&R block and was thinking of using them but they charge an arm and a leg for stuff.  Thanks in advance for any help..oh.. and one more thing.. when am i allowed to file for the federal tax exemption.. i didnt get here till the end of February 2019.. and not sure how long i have to wait to file. 

Edited January 7, 2020 by dj3642

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, dj3642 said:

Hi all I asked similar question a long time ago. But since tax season is getting here..  I want to ask once more.. I am looking for people who have their taxes done HERE in the Philippines.. I don’t have a tax man in the US.. I always did my own…. I was usually able to just use 1040EZ.. so its not complicated.. but since this will be my first year filing  here.. does anyone have a person IN the Philippines do their taxes?? I am retired .. and have no income for the last year  including SS as of now.. all I have is interest on bank accounts..  both here and in the US.. I know how to file FBARS .. I have done that before. This is strictly for taxes.. so if Anyone has any suggestions. I would appreciate it. I was looking up Expats H&R block and was thinking of using them but they charge an arm and a leg for stuff.  Thanks in advance for any help..oh.. and one more thing.. when am i allowed to file for the federal tax exemption.. i didnt get here till the end of February 2019.. and not sure how long i have to wait to file. 

I have used Turbo-Tax - the free service offered through the IRS for two years running - and it has been brilliant. I won't give details, but I have a few sources of income and this service worked fine. The main thing you need is to have online or paper statements of all your income - that's the most difficult part of it.

I am adding in an edit here... Last year I figured my taxes manually using all the IRS tax instructions and forms info and then again using TurboTax. My calculations showed higher income and tax payment than the online computer program. That's what really sold me on it. Two years running and no questions from IRS...

You did not explain what exemption you are referring to, so I really don't know about that. Again... consider trying Turbo-Tax because it seemed to work for all of my relatively straightforward needs. And, no... I am not an agent or trying to sell that product (which was free anyway) - just trying to assist...

Cheers!

Edited January 7, 2020 by Tommy T.
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[davewe]

FreeTaxUSA for me. Very easy. For what you describe it will take you little more than a few minutes. In reality you probably do not need to file but I always do out of habit.

[earthdome]

9 hours ago, dj3642 said:

Hi all I asked similar question a long time ago. But since tax season is getting here..  I want to ask once more.. I am looking for people who have their taxes done HERE in the Philippines.. I don’t have a tax man in the US.. I always did my own…. I was usually able to just use 1040EZ.. so its not complicated.. but since this will be my first year filing  here.. does anyone have a person IN the Philippines do their taxes?? I am retired .. and have no income for the last year  including SS as of now.. all I have is interest on bank accounts..  both here and in the US.. I know how to file FBARS .. I have done that before. This is strictly for taxes.. so if Anyone has any suggestions. I would appreciate it. I was looking up Expats H&R block and was thinking of using them but they charge an arm and a leg for stuff.  Thanks in advance for any help..oh.. and one more thing.. when am i allowed to file for the federal tax exemption.. i didnt get here till the end of February 2019.. and not sure how long i have to wait to file. 

Sounds like your income would be low enough so you are not required to file. But if you do decide to file, simple enough that online filing would work for you.

[OnMyWay]

9 hours ago, dj3642 said:

Hi all I asked similar question a long time ago. But since tax season is getting here..  I want to ask once more.. I am looking for people who have their taxes done HERE in the Philippines.. I don’t have a tax man in the US.. I always did my own…. I was usually able to just use 1040EZ.. so its not complicated.. but since this will be my first year filing  here.. does anyone have a person IN the Philippines do their taxes?? I am retired .. and have no income for the last year  including SS as of now.. all I have is interest on bank accounts..  both here and in the US.. I know how to file FBARS .. I have done that before. This is strictly for taxes.. so if Anyone has any suggestions. I would appreciate it. I was looking up Expats H&R block and was thinking of using them but they charge an arm and a leg for stuff.  Thanks in advance for any help..oh.. and one more thing.. when am i allowed to file for the federal tax exemption.. i didnt get here till the end of February 2019.. and not sure how long i have to wait to file. 

Why do you feel you need to change the way you do your taxes?  If you did the taxes yourself the past few years, nothing changes because you moved here to PH, unless you have some new income here in PH.  Sounds like you might be filing a paper 1040EZ by mail.  You can do that and mail it from here.

However, for most people, the online services work better than mailing a hard copy.  Less chance of it getting lost.

I also don't know what Federal Tax Exemption you are referring to.  Nothing changes because you moved to the Philippines, unless you have income in the Philippines.

[Mike J]

It is possible that you could quality for the "earned income tax credit" if you had very little income.  There are a number of easy to use programs on the web that are free or inexpensive.  I used TurboTax while I lived in the USA.  I could no longer use it here because they would not accept my credit card as living in the Philippines.  I have used TaxAct for several years now and am happy with it.  You will not need assistance as these programs are easier to use than the forms you have been used to.

None of us claim to be experts in taxes or the law as regards filing.  Keep that in mind when being advised that you may not have to file. 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

So far I have only had to file one year out of 6, and this year I will have to file (2 out of 7 ain't bad ha ha).  I retired this year so I will have to file every year  again, bummer.

I see no reason to change how I filed in the US.  Go to the IRS site, and click the 'file for free' button.  They give you a long list of free services. All the big names, like H&R Block, Turbo Tax etc are usually there. 

[Tommy T.]

My recollection of tax law is that you do not need to file returns at any time. However, if you owe taxes that you have not paid and they catch you, you have a big problem. If you do not file, there is no penalty if you do not owe taxes. But you should check the tax laws to verify this statement.

I have not owed any taxes for several years due to low income and other considerations. However, I file every year just to make sure there are no possible future issues because I do not trust IRS. It costs me nothing to file except for some hassle and time. It's worth it to me. I suggest you please consult a tax accountant to verify what you wish to do or not do relative to taxes...

[Tukaram (Tim)]

I quit work in 2012, did not retire until 2019. I had no taxable income, so no reason to file. 

[RickTacloban]

Last November I married a Filipina while she was in the US.  I wonder how to file my taxes since she is not an American and has no immigration status.