CPA Familiar with Foreign Earned income / IRS Form 2555

moxiepilot

moxiepilot

Well-Known Member
I'm looking for a CPA that is familiar with income earned outside of the US as a bona fide resident of that country who returns to the US on vacation.

Any ex-pats have a US based CPA that they trust, are reasonably priced, and are familiar with Form 2555?
 
I'm not a CPA but I recently changed my filing status to be a bona fide resident of Indonesia, as I've lived here six years now. My CPA helped me through this process, though it is a little gray in the IRS tax code. You basically need to be able to answer the questions yourself on Form 2555. I've filed it for years but going back and forth to the US makes taking the physical presence test difficult sometimes. PM me if you have any questions, or I can answer them here.
 
I've use H&R Block successfully for the last 3 years now. You just have to know the rules yourself and make sure you have the proof. The waiver of time can be helpful if your base closed and you had to move against your will.
 
I am a CPA (although I focus in consulting not tax), and have had friends do something similar (as well as ex pats working as contractors for most of the year). It can be complicated process once you return back for a period of time. The software (H&R/TurboTax/etc) can walk you through some of the complexities but if you get lost feel free to shoot me a PM and I can put you in touch with someone who is pretty familiar with the process.
 
I've been doing it for years now and would never trust H&R block for my international income etc etc. I use and will continue to use an accountant.

If you still need names drop me a pm and I can help.
 
moxiepilot said:
I'm looking for a CPA that is familiar with income earned outside of the US as a bona fide resident of that country who returns to the US on vacation.

Any ex-pats have a US based CPA that they trust, are reasonably priced, and are familiar with Form 2555?
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There are quite a few, but they generally charge big money, $700+

Nick Romer, Don Nelson, Marty Kapp, Lee Willard

If you are a bona-fide resident, there is no written limitation on your days in the USA. You can easily be over 35 days and still have the full Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

All you really need to do is read IRS Pub 54 and you'd have as good a handle on it as most CPAs.

Under no circumstances let a CPA or tax attorney tell you that you are self-employed if you are working as a contract pilot for an airline. That's just stupid, but some will do that since they do not understand the definition of self-employed. Unless of course you want to pay 15% more in tax and get the Social Security credits.

TurboTax actually works pretty well.

Good luck,



Typhoonpilot
 
fly22 said:
I've been doing it for years now and would never trust H&R block for my international income etc etc. I use and will continue to use an accountant.
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I 2nd that!

If you are a bona fide resident of a foreign country the foreign earned income exclusion is not a big deal. A competent tax professional should not have any problem doing the proper forms, though many do because they do not do the foreign earned income exclusion very often / rely to much on software.
 
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