⌛ Finding a good Tax Accountant or Atty

The comments on the investment thread cause me to ask this question. Anyone know of good and reputable tax accountant or atty in the Dumaguette area?

The money we earn will be taxed is the US except for any business ventures that we undertake locally. I'm hoping that will not be taxed again on the money we transfer to ourselves that is not income.

Any Ideas, Thoughts etc?

I seem to have at lease partially answered some of my questions by reading the us/ph tax treaty.

Here is a link http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/philip.pdf I am not an atty but it seems to prevent double taxation. Of course that opens the door to proving that the money was taxed in the US. I am still thinking a good Accountant or Atty would be useful in the event that the BIR decides to be difficult.

 

There is no tax on money transfers.

 

What if I write myself a check on the us back and deposit in the PH bank? Is that considered a transfer or do I need to transfer bank to bank?

Thanks for the response

 

I do electronic funds transfer monthly from US to PI, no tax implications. I doubt a PI bank will take a US check? I don't have a dollar account here so maybe another on the forum does and can discuss if that makes a difference on depositing a US check here.

 

Why not discussing your problem with any foreign bank of your choise before spending money on a lawyer?
Foreign Commercial Banks in the Philippines

 

We are going to setup the bank transfer option on Monday. I read on another thread that someone was depositing checks... however, they had to wait a long time for it to clear. Perhaps someone can clarify this

 

You can deposit a check drawn on a US account in a US Dollar account at a Philippine bank. Clearing takes only 4 or 5 days, but most banks hold the check for another 10 or so business days. I just had a check clear and become available at BDO...it took right at 3 weeks.

This is a complicated subject matter...yes, there is a no-double taxation treaty (between the US and RP) which given the proper immigration status and source of income, you can avail. (Although, most people I have spoken with regretted putting themselves on the BIR's radar screen. It is known as the most corrupt agency in the Philippine government afterall...)

You have probably studied the tax exemption ($91,400 for tax year 2009) for US ex-pats with foreign-sourced income, if not you may want to do so as it may be applicable to you if you will not be spending much time back in the US in future fiscal years.

Other tax issues will really depend on your source of income. I am an Investment Advisor and have a good deal of experience dealing with investment/interest income offshore. I work closely with a US-based tax attorney. I don't know of any US tax attorneys here in Dumaguete though...

Regarding your transfer question...I am not sure that I understand what you are asking. You can transfer funds either through means of a check or bank wire, there is not tax withholding on either. However, checks or wires above $10,000 per transaction, per day, require a filing with the Central Bank of the Philippines (and incidentally, will automatically generate a report to FinCen in the US). Same thing is true with physcially bringing more than $10,000 cash (or negotiable instruments, etc.) per person into the country.

 

One thing you may not have thought of is the need to terminate your state tax domicile in the US. Most expats re-establish their US domicile in NV, TX, FL or WA which have no state income taxes and do not require any annual filings. Some states are notoriously difficult on expats who go abroad and do not take actions to terminate their state tax domicile. Most notable of these is CA, but also VA, SC and NM.

Also, some people will tell you that you can open accounts and place assets under your spouse's name if she has a non-US citizenship in order to avoid US tax. However, if your spouse in a US Permanent Resident (or dual citizen), they still fall under the same tax regime as you.

 

i find it extremely disturbing that people have to pay any taxes, especially when retired. if u are residing in the phil and do not earn any money there, you should definitely not to have to pay taxes except maybe property tax. for us citizen it seems a pleasure to pay to their corrupt elite taxes that they can screw around some more. me, i am swiss and did not pay any taxes for 30 years.

 

I am not advocating US Tax Policy. I simply try to help people negotiate it in a way that best suits their interests while avoiding conflict with tax authorities.