Recent Document Shipments

[Tommy T.]

I know this topic has been mentioned before.. but this is just a bit of an update.

Recently, I have had to request some documents to ship from my mail handler in Seattle to me, here in Davao. Unfortunately, due to a mistake on my part, I had to have two shipments rather than one...

Whatever the case, I have nothing but excellent reviews for DHL in their document handling. No, not cheap, but efficient to the point of being able to track the packages and also even getting phone calls informing me of the package arrivals. We're talking credit cards and some other very confidential documents.

I'm sure there are other purveyors of this sort of service, like FedEx or UPS or others.. but I just wanted to say how immensely pleased I have been with the DHL service...

[graham59]

There's a nice positive.

So far I too have had good experiences when shipping stuff both in and out of the Phils...including YES....the good old Philippines postal service ! 

One service I can recommend (they operate out of various countries, including the U.S, UK, and Australia) is 'ShippingCart'. I use them for taking delivery of, and then sending on to me by air or sea cargo, upon my requesting (and paying for) it, such things as my purchases from eBay (UK). Delivered to my door here, without any customs intervention or other such official nosying/costs. 

[saipan]

speaking of documents how do people get all the tax forms from the US to the PI.  I assume many can be downloaded but I will have no support system in the states once i leave.  Does the IRS ever just mail stuff?  I only used the PI mail system a few times and the letters were lost.

[Old55]

For US Taxation H&R Block can help you. Have you asked them?

[Old55]

Also, have you activated your "My IRS" online portal.

[Mike J]

2 hours ago, saipan said:

speaking of documents how do people get all the tax forms from the US to the PI.  I assume many can be downloaded but I will have no support system in the states once i leave.  Does the IRS ever just mail stuff?  I only used the PI mail system a few times and the letters were lost.

I believe all forms can be downloaded.   Many, perhaps most, living here file electronically instead of paper.

[Tommy T.]

4 hours ago, saipan said:

speaking of documents how do people get all the tax forms from the US to the PI.  I assume many can be downloaded but I will have no support system in the states once i leave.  Does the IRS ever just mail stuff?  I only used the PI mail system a few times and the letters were lost.

Welcome to the forum!

Here's the website address to order forms directly from the IRS:
https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions

I believe that all forms and instructions can be downloaded online, then filled out electronically or printed out and completed by hand.

However, I have had really positive experiences using online tax handling outfits. I started by using TurboTax and then switched because they were starting to charge for their service. Before that, I availed of their free service because I was below the lowest AGI threshold. So I switched to FreeTaxUSA:

https://www.freetaxusa.com/freefile2021/?thn=57DB440062D59DD35046D5BD6C3CCC0A

Both companies were virtually identical in service, very thorough and accurate. They made filing a breeze by simply guiding me through various menus by asking questions to direct me to what information I needed to access and finally perform the actual online filing. No muss, no fuss - I couldn't be happier. They keep my tax record from previous filings and that makes it all even easier, and all at no charge. If you do have to pay, I believe the fees are reasonable.

There are a number of online tax filing services; these just happen to be the ones I have had experience with and no issues for years.

Don't forget that you may also need to file the BSA FBAR report if you have overseas bank accounts or investments worth, I think, more than US$10k during the tax year. That is also a breeze to complete online and another free service:

https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html

I have done my taxes - even though I have owed nothing - yearly since forever and these online services make it all so easy peasy. The most difficult part is always making sure I have receipts or reports of income ready to reference for the filings. I get it all done usually within a couple of hours, not counting gathering the reports.

If this works for you, it will be lots cheaper than Block or any other tax preparer or accountant firms.

I should have also mentioned that I am not intending to give tax advice, but rather just relating my positive experiences using the methods I outlined above.

Edited October 8 by Tommy T.

[saipan]

i have a headache already lol...thanks for the info