vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
1) Why wouldn't I be able to contribute to an IRA if it is taxable? Since I am spending the stipend on living expenses, shouldn't it count as income and thus make it eligibile for an IRA? Not any income is eligible for an IRA. Only earned income (compensation) is eligible. From the link - see the second bullet item: For 2015 and 2016, your total contributions to all of your traditional and Roth IRAs cannot be more than: In your case this is not an earned income, since you haven't performed any work. You promised to perform work in the future, but you'll get paid for that work separately. This income is taxable, but doesn't qualify for the IRA. If you have any other earned income, you can use the stipend funds to make the actual deposits, and use that other earned income for calculating the limits.
Distributions from such inherited accounts are (mostly) taxable income to you; any part of post-tax money such as nondeductible contributions to Traditional IRAs that is included in the distribution is tax-free. Annuities present another source of complications. For annuities within IRAs, even the IRS throws up its hands at explaining things to mere mortals who are foolhardy enough to delve into Pub 950, saying in effect, talk to your tax advisor. For other annuities, questions arise such as is this a tax-deferred annuity and whether it was purchased with pre-tax money or with post-tax money, etc. One thing that you should check out is whether it is beneficial to take a lump sum distribution or just collect the money as it is distributed in monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual payments. Annuities in particular have heavy surrender charges if they are terminated early and the money taken as a lump sum instead of over time as the insurance company issuing the annuity had planned on happening. So, taking a lump sum would mean more income tax immediately due not just on the lump sum but because the increase in AGI might reduce deductions for medical expenses as well as reduce the overall amount of itemized deductions that can be claimed, increase taxability of social security benefits, etc. You say that you have these angles sussed out, and so I will merely re-iterate Beware the surrender charges.
You can always take deduction for foreign tax paid on Schedule A, or calculate foreign tax credit using form 1116. Credit is usually more beneficial, but in some cases you will be better of with a deduction. However, in very specific cases, you can claim the credit directly on your 1040 without using the form 1116. Look at the 1040 instructions for line 47: Exception.   You do not have to complete Form 1116 to take this credit   if all of the following apply. All of your foreign source gross income was from interest and dividends and all of that income and the foreign tax paid on it were   reported to you on Form 1099-INT, Form 1099-DIV, or Schedule K-1 (or   substitute statement). The total of your foreign taxes was not more than $300 (not more than $600 if married filing jointly). You held the stock or bonds on which the dividends or interest were paid for at least 16 days and were not obligated to pay these   amounts to someone else. You are not filing Form 4563 or excluding income from sources within Puerto Rico. All of your foreign taxes were: Legally owed and not eligible for a refund or reduced tax rate under a tax treaty, and Paid to countries that are recognized by the United States and do not support terrorism. For more details on these requirements, see the Instructions for   Form 1116.
As a gift, the responsibility lays with the giver to file a 709 with their taxes for gifting to a single entity (barring certain exclusions) an amount over $14,000 within the (2017) tax year. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i709.pdf If this person is a foreign entity from outside the country, you might need to provide in your tax filing a form 3520 https://www.irs.gov/businesses/gifts-from-foreign-person The reporting limits are: more than $100,000 from a foreign estate or non-resident alien, or more than $15,102 from a foreign company. If you don't know who/where the money came from i.e. cash, it would be considered found money and fall under income (not a gift).
So you gonna not do business with essentially every multinational corporation?  Bribery is necessary to get things done in many many countries across the world. Plus you are taking samsung to task for playing ball with their now disgraced president who had some mystic pulling her strings.   If they were bribing US officials, sure, but different countries play by different rules  Hell if i remember correctly the IRS allows businesses to make deductions based on foreign bribes
You friend would only be able to deposit this in NRO account. You may have to explain the source of money. If you declare it as gift, then you would need to pay gift tax.  What you are doing is converting USD to INR outside the normal banking network and this maybe in volition of FEMA [Foreign Exchange Management Act].
We don't have all the details, but individuals and corporations can either deduct or elect to get a credit for foreign taxes paid. What if this stays and the state/local deduction is eliminated. The IRS directly states the intent is to avoid double taxation.  https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-tax-credit-choosing-to-take-credit-or-deduction  And ya, the system you make reference to was tried in the Articles of Confederation and proved unworkable.   The initial point is that it makes no sense to eliminate the state and local tax deduction unless the intent is to punish blue states and localities in order to offset a reduction in taxes for the wealthy.
All of this assumes that this relationship isn't as employer-employee relationship, which would require you to withhold taxes. If you send them a small token of appreciation, and you are unable to record it as a business expense, or some other deductible expense, you don't have to be concerned about how they claim it. They decide if they want to risk claiming it was a gift, or if they want to record it as an expense. Even if you say some magic phrase that you think will impress the IRS, the recipient can still decide declare it as income. To have any hope of being able to treat it as a gift they would have to be able to demonstrate that there is a non-business relationship.  If you can claim it as a business expense, or a deductible expense,  they will have to also claim it as income; because your documentation could point the IRS to their lack of documentation.  Giving them a check or sending the payment electronically will require them to claim it as an income, since an audit could require them to explain every line on their bank statements.
No there are no deductions when converting from an SB a/c to an NRO a/c. However, the bank may charge you a small fee to transfer your funds (Somewhere between 100-500 Rupees). The interest you earn on that NRO account will be deducted at source as compared to your S/B(30.9% p.a). In case you fall within basic exemption limit, you can claim it back at the end of the year, while filing your taxes.  You can remit upto $1 million from your NRO account every year. There are no taxes while you remit the money. However, you will need to fill out form 15CA and 15CB which ensures that the taxes have been collected before the money is remitted out of the country.
To answer my own question, at least to the extent of my understanding. Here the IRS says that all income for a foreign person from a US-based company is taxable with 30%. Here the IRS says that this tax should be withhold at source by whomever pays you. In case there is a tax treaty with the country, the tax can even be waived in the US. Of course, if you don't declare it in your home country, the US bank could probably give information requested by the home country authorities. For the other two cases (when there's no US party involved) I can't find anything on the IRS website, which kind of make sense. If I am using an account in the US just to receive and send money shouldn't imply any tax. Thanks to @litteadv for pointing me into the right direction.
"Not sure about specific French laws. Assuming its not a political party receiving such donations, and it an normal individual ... General common sense answer would be; but it could very well be a generous donation from someone in the Caimans or Germany The onus would be on you to prove it is a generous donation. What is the threshold between ""this money looks like money-laundering"" and ""this money looks like a generous donation""? There is no threshold. By default if you don't know the source; it is money-laundering.  In particular: is it up to me to explain where the money comes from, or is it the sender's problem?  You have to explain the source of money.  That the Bank in Germany may have to do its own due-diligence is separate from your having to explain the source of funds."
No such law in existence or planning. There are no limits on what you can transfer in or out of the USA, as long as you're not doing tax evasion/money laundering, or violating embargo laws against specific countries and organizations. Explanation why Rob's answer is wrong: There's no, and never has been, withholding requirement when transferring money between own accounts. FATCA doesn't impose any new withholding. It reinforces the existing 30% withholding requirement, and suggests that the 30% withholding requirement may supersede treaty positions. Generally internal legislation cannot supersede international treaties, so I'm very skeptical about the US Gov't ability to enforce this. 30% withholding on payments to  foreign people/entities has always been there. It's not new. Certain payments that are income sourced in the US and being remitted to foreign payees is subject to 30% withholding (unless treaty says otherwise). There's nothing new about it, been like that forever.
"I have heard that I can give 10k as a gift in cash for my aunt to take   on the plane. Please don't, for her own safety. Don't know when was the last you've been to Russia, but that's not a place to walk around with $10K in cash in your pocket. For the rest, the 20k, I am not sure what is the best course of   action. Would something like Western Union, Paypal or Bank Wire Transfer be the best course of action?  Wire transfer would be the safest option. Would there be tax implications for me as well? Depends on where you are tax resident and where you are a citizen. Some countries have ""gift tax"", but most don't. If you're a US tax resident, then you're subject to US gift tax rules. Your gifts are taxable if they exceed $14K per year per person. So your $30K to your mom is taxable. But your $10K to your mom, $10K to your dad and $10K to your aunt is not. You cannot however control what they do with it."
This is only true for countries where we don't have a tax treaty. If we have a tax treaty with the country then you would get foreign tax credits if you repatriated the money. The reason US corporates do this is because US corporate tax rate is the second highest effective rate in the world at ~40% depending on the state you're hq'd in.   So, if they want to repatriated cash from Canada they'd repatriate at the US rate and then receive foreign tax credits for the amount they paid in Canadian taxes. On balance they'll have just paid the US rate.
The United States taxes gifts to the giver, not the receiver.  Thus, in your case there would be no direct tax implications from the receiver so long as you are gifting cash and the cash is in Canada.  If you are gifting capital (stocks, property, etc.), or if you are gifting something that is in the United States (US stock, for example), there may be a tax implication for either or both of you. Your adult child would, however, have to file an IRS form since the gift is so large (over $100k) to create a paper trail for the money (basically proving s/he isn't money laundering or otherwise avoiding tax). See this article in The Globe And Mail which goes into more detail. There are no implications, except that there is a form (IRS Form 3520) that would have to be filed by the U.S. recipient if the foreign gift is over $100,000 (U.S.). But the child would still receive the gift tax-free. The U.S. gift tax would only apply when the Canadian parent makes a gift of U.S. “situs” assets, which are typically only U.S. real estate or tangible personal property such as a boat located in the U.S. For gift-tax purposes, U.S. shares are not considered to be U.S. situs assets.
Depending on what software you use. It has to be reported as a foreign income and you can claim foreign tax paid as a foreign tax credit.
If you are paid by foreigners then it is quite possible they don't file anything with the IRS. All of this income you are required to report as business income on schedule C.  There are opportunities on schedule C to deduct expenses like your health insurance, travel, telephone calls, capital expenses like a new computer, etc... You will be charged both the employees and employers share of social security/medicare, around ~17% or so, and that will be added onto your 1040.   You may still need a local business license to do the work locally, and may require a home business permit in some cities.  In some places, cities subscribe to data services based on your IRS tax return.... and will find out a year or two later that someone is running an unlicensed business.  This could result in a fine, or perhaps just a nice letter from the city attorneys office that it would be a good time to get the right licenses. Generally, tax treaties exist to avoid or limit double taxation. For instance, if you travel to Norway to give a report and are paid during this time, the treaty would explain whether that is taxable in Norway.  You can usually get a credit for taxes paid to foreign countries against your US taxes, which helps avoid paying double taxes in the USA.   If you were to go live in Norway for more than a year, the first $80,000/year or so is completely wiped off your US income.  This does NOT apply if you live in the USA and are paid from Norway. If you have a bank account overseas with more than $10,000 of value in it at any time during the year, you owe the US Government a FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR).  This is pretty important, there are some large fines for not doing it.  It could occur if you needed an account to get paid in Norway and then send the money here... If the Norwegian company wires the money to you from their account or sends a check in US$, and you don't have a foreign bank account, then this would not apply.
Check with Lawyer and CA who deals with international laws. It maybe illegal in Saudi Arabia. From India tax point of view, any credits into NRE account is not taxable. However credits to friends/family will be treated as GIFT and friends/family will be liable to pay a gift tax if such transfer are more than Rs 50,000/- per year. Although FEMA does not prohibit explicitly such arrangement, these look like round about way of moving money and can be investigated.
"Legally speaking, when you convert that bit-coin onto something else, the Israeli Tax Authority will look into the value of that something else, compare it to the original value of the previous something else you used to buy bit-coins (USD, in your example), and charge you capital gain taxes for the difference. According to the Israeli law you're supposed to pay taxes when selling (converting the bit-coin to something else), and since you're not using any formal bank or stock broker which will automatically deduct the taxes, you have to pay the taxes yourself. By not doing so you're committing a tax fraud. The real question you're asking is whether they'll come after you. Well, that depends on the amounts. They might. Pay attention: there's no statute of limitation for tax fraud in Israel. They may come after you in 50 years from now. Another thing to keep in mind: if you used bit-coins to buy something (services or products of any kind), you probably didn't pay the VAT (מע""מ) - which is another case of tax fraud on your behalf. PS: I'm not a lawyer or accountant, so get a professional advice, but I have been dealing with the Tax Authority in Israel, so I've got a pretty good idea of what the rules are."
"Employers are not supposed to give cash gifts to their employees, even if you try to call it a ""gift"" for tax purposes. Presumably, the reason your wife's employer gave her cash was to be nice and save her taxes on that amount. Her employer already paid tax on that money so that your wife doesn't have to. If she plans to declare it anyway, then she should instead give it back and ask for it to be added to the W2 as an end of year bonus. This way her employer could then deduct the payment and pay her a larger amount of money. (The additional amount would be approximately their tax rate minus about 7.45% for FICA.) In fact, if your wife's tax rate is more than 15% lower than her employer's, then this is actually mathematically best for both parties."
Those branches in low-tax jurisdictions charge the high-tax branches (such as the US) with fees for use of their valuable research. So much of Apple's income is reported in those foreign jurisdictions. It won't be taxed in the US until Apple ""repatriates"" the cash back to the US. Until then, the cash sits in the foreign jurisdiction, accruing less tax. This and similar rules can be used by individuals wealthy enough to hold corporations in foreign jurisdictions with low tax rates. How each particular rule / ""loophole"" works will depend on the nature of a specific case - tax law is complex, and the rules between countries are even more so. These foreign tax loopholes are closing every year. It is getting harder and harder to hide money offshore, and it is getting less and less likely that you will be able to find a country with juuuust the right loopholes for your own offshore wealth. These types of news leaks will only help to expedite those changes."
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p950/ar02.html Gift tax is owed by the giver, not the recipient. So my first guess is that you can make the transfer in your home country, and as the givers will not be subject to US tax, it won't apply at all. You can then transfer the money into the US freely. In any case, there's a lifetime exemption of 1mn USD. So, unless non-US persons don't get the exemption, I can't see the tax being a problem anyway unless there are going to be several more such transfers.
It would be better to use a bank account and have the refund deposited directly to it. But you said you never had a bank account, so that may be a problem. Another option is to have the refund check mailed to you, and you deposit it in your local bank, converting to your home currency (or not, depending on local laws). Generally, for another person to cash a check made out to you - you need to endorse it first. Physically, on the back of the check. That means you have to see the check. Specifically with tax refund checks there's much more scrutiny since there's a lot of fraud going on with regards to tax refunds. Thus, I doubt a bank would allow a third party cash a check made out to you, without you actually being present there.
"Perhaps you can track your VAT amounts in a Liability account.  Using a tax liability account is a common thing in accounting. To do this, when you receive money, split the transaction such that your actual revenue (which you will keep after VAT remittance) goes into an Asset account, and the amount you will eventually have to pay back to the state goes into a Liability account.  Later, when you pay the VAT back to the state, your transaction will effectively ""pay back"" the liability, with one end of your double-entry decreasing the funds in your checking account, and the other end decreasing the funds in your tax liability account. Having said that, I've found that there are many shortcomings in the Cash Flow report, and I'm not sure that using a tax liability account (which I think is the Right Thing to do) will necessarily solve this problem for you..."
As the college education is very costly, I want to send USD 25,000 to him as a gift. What is the procedure and what Indian and American tax laws are involved ? This transaction will be treated as gift. As per Indian law you can transfer unlimited amount to your close relative [son-in-law/grandchildren/daughter/etc]. In US the gift tax is on donor, as you are no US citizen you are not bound by this. As your son-in-law/grandchildren are US citizens, there is no tax to them. Your son-in-law may still need to declare this in Form 3250 or such relevant returns. Under the Liberalized remittance scheme [Refer Q3], you can transfer upto USD 250,000 per year. There maybe some forms that you need to fill. Ask your Bank. If the amount is more than USD 25,000 a CA certificate along with 15CA, 15CB need to be filled. Essentially the CA certifies that taxes on the funds being transferred have already been paid to Govt of India. Can I send money to him directly or to his father who is submitting tax returns in USA? This does not make any difference in India. Someone else may answer this question if it makes a difference in US.
This is something better asking a licensed professional (EA/CPA licensed in the US) who's also familiar with your home country tax law and the tax treaty your home country has with the US. Assuming no tax treaty and adverse tax consequences at home, you can have this scenario: The last step is critical - unless there's a tax treaty, not every country allows foreign tax credit (tax treaties usually have a provision to avoid double taxation), and you may end up paying both the US tax and local tax on the same money. If there's a tax treaty - step #4 is most likely guaranteed. Step #4 may not work in some places that would not consider the penalty as tax. Again - check it with an accountant proficient with the local law. Step #3 depends on your country. Some countries ignore foreign deferred compensation rules and consider the 401k amounts income to you when it was deposited (the US treats foreign tax deferred accounts this way, I believe that is also the case in India). So you should check locally. In this case you have probably paid taxes (or were exempt) on this amount when you earned it and will not pay taxes again. But then you might also not be able to claim the 10% back as credit. Leaving it is an option, although with such an amount is hardly worth it. You'll have to check how your country deals with foreign accounts of its citizens (the US, for example, puts an enormous reporting and tax burden on these, some countries forbid them altogether). This also applies to step #1.