Top 7 tips for Self Employed NRIs in the US

Top 7 tips for Self Employed NRIs in the US

by | Aug 9, 2019 | IRS, tax deductions, tax filing, Tax Planning, Tax Refund, tax savings, taxes

Top 7 tips for Self Employed NRIs in the US

The person sitting next to you on your flight could be running a small-scale successful business. Working parents now choose to work from home more often than not. The changes in the landscape of career options have been vast over the past few years. Thus, it is no secret that more and more people are willing to take risks and explore more career options that are not only better paying but fulfilling as well. If you are an individual who wants to explore self-employment or are an NRI who wishes to look for self-employment options, you also need to be aware of how taxes work. Here are the top 7 tips, self-employed NRIs which will help you make the most of taxes.

Proper Research

The first step to successful tax filing begins with proper research. Do you due diligence in finding out the total income for a fiscal year. You would also want to be aware of the list of deductions applicable for you. You must also be aware of the deadlines by which you must file your taxes and start acting accordingly. For instance, if your self-employment income exceeds INR 400 for a fiscal year, you are required to file your taxes.

Status

Self-employment doesn’t necessarily mean that you ought to have a company or firm registered to your name or even the income doesn’t have to be your primary source. Given the vast landscape, you could have a primary job and work on your passion over the weekends and earn some money out of it. It is essential that you report all such incomes in your tax returns.

Proper Documents

While preparing for tax returns, having all the relevant documents will help you save a considerable amount of time as well as confusion. From the beginning of a fiscal year, ensure that you keep all the receipts for expenses that you wish to claim, relevant forms, rent bills or mortgage bills if you work from home etc. in a separate folder. Documents such as Form 1099-K or 1099-Misc might also be needed. Having them at a single place will ensure that you have a smooth tax filing process.

Tax Estimations

If you are work for an organization, they take care of withholding applicable taxes before crediting your salary. However, for self-employed individuals, things are a bit different. Since there aren’t any fixed sources of income, you out to estimate your taxes and pay them on a quarterly basis. For the current year, if your tax bill is more than $1,000 you will have to pay estimated taxes.

Work-Related Expenses

The IRS allows individuals to claim deductions on a number of work-related expenses. For example, if you bought a computer or a laptop for your work, you can claim the amount as deduction. You can even claim expenses for driving down to meet a client for business purpose. Keeping a track of such expenses will help you tackle the tax return process in a better way.

Required Forms

Self-employed individuals usually document their income in Schedule C along with any profit or loss of the business. If you own a business with simple earning structure, you would need to file Schedule C-EZ. Thus, understanding the right form depending on your self-employment type is essential.

Tax-Tools

If the tax filing and return process seems overwhelming, you can take the help of several tax tools available. You would only have to provide the essential information, post which the tools will take care of the rest.

Self-employed individuals can use the above tips to handle taxes or overcome tax phobia in a much better way.

How to claim your TDS refund for the NRI’s residing in the US

How to claim your TDS refund for the NRI’s residing in the US

by | Apr 22, 2019 | Blog, income tax credit, IRS, NRI, Tax Payers, Tax Planning, Tax Refund, tax savings, TDS

How to claim your TDS refund for the NRI’s residing in the US

TDS refund For an NRI residing in the US, income tax is applicable for the income that is earned in India. Be it salary earned in India or for services rendered to India or on earnings from investments and assets, NRI is liable to pay income tax if the total income for the financial year is more than Rs. 2.5 lakhs.

In India, It’s not very simple when it comes to income tax rules for NRIs.As per tax rules, any payment to non-resident Indians (NRIs) is required to be made after deduction of tax deducted at source (TDS) even if the income of that person is less than Rs. 2.5 lakhs. However, NRIs are allowed to claim refund of TDS deducted at the time of income tax filing if he/she falls below the minimum taxable income i.e. 2.5 lakhs.

Here are some of the major income types on which TDS is deducted for NRIs.

  • Payments received for services rendered in India
  • Interest income earned on bank savings and deposit accounts – NRO accounts
  • Rental income from property owned in India
  • Sale of bonds, mutual funds and shares
  • Sale of property in India owned by an NRI

TDS refund can be claimed by NRIs residing in the US by filing the income tax return in India. Income tax filing is quite a simple process. As the new financial year begins, it’s also important for NRIs to know the time limit to file the income tax for claiming refund.

NRIs are required to file income tax return before 31st July of the new financial year. Any delay would attract penalty. For example, for the financial year 2018-19, income tax filing needs to be done by 31st July 2019 for claiming TDS refund.

Here are the few easy steps for NRIs to file income tax return in India

Reconcile your incomes and taxes with Form 26AS

After determining the residential status for the financial year, NRI‘s need to reconcile their TDS credit or advance taxes paid with the data reflected in Form 26AS.

Keep the necessary documents ready

Keep important documents such as PAN card, bank details, investment details, TDS certificates, passport and Form 26AS ready as these documents give you relevant information required for income tax filing.

File your income tax return through income tax e-filing portal

  • Log on to income tax e-filing portal with your e-filing account user ID and password. Download ITR2 or ITR3 form depending on your type of income.
  • If you earn any income from business in India, ITR3 would be applicable. ITR2 would be applicable if you are not earning any business income (excludes capital gain on sale of assets/property) in India.
  • Fill in all the relevant details and calculate your tax liability.
  • Once all the details are filled validate your form by entering one time password (OTP) sent to you on your registered number.
  • Save the validated XML file on your system and then upload the saved file with adding your digital signature to it.

Verify your income tax return

Once you are done with uploading your tax return file on income tax portal, ITR-V will be generated which needs to be submitted to IT department. On receipt of this, your income tax return will be processed.

It’s important to note that, refunding of TDS will take about 6 months’ time or more. However, the refund is issued with interest of 6% p.a which is applicable from the end of financial year.

NRIs residing in US can save on TDS through DTAA (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement) as both the countries have signed tax treaties. In this case, as an NRI taxpayer you can avoid paying tax twice for the same income. DTAA either eliminates or reduces your tax implication on the income earned and taxable in India.

Conclusion

As an NRI, adhering to two different tax laws at once can be quite challenging. Knowing and understanding the process involved in the taxation can help you save tax liabilities. Keep yourself updated and seek a professional help whenever needed.

How is the Rental Income from Foreign Country taxes in US?

How is the Rental Income from Foreign Country taxes in US?

by | Mar 20, 2019 | IRS, tax filing, Tax Planning, Tax Preparation

How is the Rental Income from Foreign Country taxes in the US?

The possibility is quite high that you might decide to invest in a home or other property type while staying in the USA. The tax implications of such earnings vary from country to country. For instance, a foreign country taxes have a minimum threshold in place.

Only if your income exceeds the threshold, are you expected to pay taxes on the same, however, if you are staying in the USA and the property or house generates some income, you need to consider both the countries.

You will have to look after the tax ramifications in the country where you have bought the property as well as the USA.

Classification of Foreign Property

Before we get started with the tax implications, it is important to understand the different classifications of rental properties. It would help you identify which tax treatment category you belong to.

As a rule of thumb, you would need to report any income that you earn outside of the USA, be it rental, dividends, interests etc. The USA has different thresholds for rental properties, depending on the duration for which the property was rented. The following table will help you better understand the same.

Your usage Rented duration Applicable Taxes
Nil Anywhere between 0 to 365 days Regular rental taxes are applicable
More than 15 days Less than 15 days Not required to report on the tax return
Less than 10% of the number of days it was rented for or 15 days More than 15 days Taxes on rental property and a vacation home are applicable
More than 10% of the number of days it was rented for or 14 days More than 15 days Taxes on a vacation home and secondary residence are applicable

Reporting Your Income

The IRS expects you to file your rental income in a foreign country just as you would do for a property in the USA. Though there are a few exceptions.

  • You would first need to calculate the total income for a fiscal year due to the rental property(s).
  • You then have to convert the amount into USD.
  • The IRS’s website has a link to Foreign Currency and Currency Exchange Rates, you can refer to this page for exchange rates.
  • The rental expenses can include:
    • Any repair expenses
    • Foreign local taxes
    • A mortgage interest that you pay in a foreign country
    • Travel related expenses if you have to inspect your property
    • Any fees pertaining to the management of the property
  • One of the major differences is in the form of depreciable cost of the building portion that you own. It must take place over a period of 40 years.
  • In the event that you have to pay taxes on your foreign income in the native country, you can seek for offsets in your tax returns.
  • In your tax returns, you can mention the income and the tax deducted for the same which will help you avoid double taxation on the income.
  • Again, it largely depends on the understanding and double taxation agreement between the USA and the country where your property exists.
  • Apart from the above, you might have to file for FBAR, if you have set up a bank account in a foreign country to receive the payment for the rental property.
  • You might even have to file Form 8938 if the rental property is owned as a part of partnership, corporation or trust.

If you have any form of rental income from a foreign country, do not forget to report the same in your tax returns.

Tips for NRI’s to become compliant with FATCA and the IRS

Tips for NRI’s to become compliant with FATCA and the IRS

by | Mar 10, 2019 | Blog, Deduction & Credits, FATCA, IRS

Tips for NRI’s to become compliant with FATCA and the IRS

The first step towards becoming compliant to any norm is to be aware of what it is. FATCA or Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act came into existence some years ago to counter tax evasion by taxpayers.
As per the tax code, any individual who is a resident of the USA is a green card holder or a citizen of the USA, must pay taxes. To extend it further, taxpayers need to declare their global income and pay appropriate taxes on the same.
There are quite a few high-profile tax evasions in the past, which forced the IRS to take corrective measures.

Approaches of FATCA

There are two primary approaches that FATCA takes. Firstly, it expects US taxpayers to provide details of their foreign income. If they own any kind of assets outside the USA, they must report them to the IRS. By filing Form 8938, you can provide all the necessary details to the IRS.
The second approach involves foreign financial institutions providing information regarding assets of individuals. The institutions need to provide information regarding financial accounts, the assets or accounts that individuals hold in different countries.

How to get FATCA Compliance

You must do the following steps to be compliant with FATCA.
– A simple declaration that mentions your PAN details.
– The country of your birth.
– The country of your current residence.
– Your nationality.
– Your current occupation.
– Your annual income.
– And whether or not you are a politically exposed individual or not.
– For individuals who have paid taxes in any part of India, they need to provide a tax identification number.

What should be reported

The following are certain conditions in which an NRI needs to report their earnings as per FATCA to the IRS. Financial institutions also need to report the same to the IRS as well.
– If the total value of the income is less than $50,000 at the end of the fiscal year, there is no need to report the same. However, if the amount has exceeded $75,000 at any point in the year, the amount must be reported to the IRS.
– The above threshold is for individuals staying in the USA. For the ones who stay outside of the USA, the threshold values are even higher.
– The threshold levels differ for single tax filers and married tax filers as well.
– This declaration of income includes mutual funds and other financial accounts.
Outcomes of Non-compliance
The consequences of non-compliance of FATCA differs depending on the account types. You might have to face any of the following, depending on the kind of holdings.

– Bank Account

The IRS had offered a deadline of 30thApril 2017 to present a self-signed certificate. In the event of failure of presenting the same, the accounts would be frozen.
In simple words, the financial institution would forbid the account holder from making any financial transactions.

– Mutual Fund Investors

A similar deadline was introduced for mutual fund accounts as well. As is the case with the bank accounts, the mutual fund accounts would also be blocked if they are non-compliant with FATCA. Being blocked doesn’t allow individuals to do any sort of transactions on the accounts.

– NPS

NPS account holders also need to get the FATCA compliance done. The lack of which will deem their accounts blocked.
You need to download the form and self-sign it and send the same to NSDL-CRA to get the certification done.
The IRS is quite serious when it comes to tax evasion. If your financial accounts aren’t already FATCA compliant, it is high time you get them done.