Your US and individual state income taxes can be prepared through our offices near Lake Chapala and Guadalajara no matter where you live! Location is not an issue! We have clients throughout Mexico.

A copy of last year’s return. This should contain your personal information such as names, Social Security numbers, address, etc. We will also need the date of birth for everyone listed on the return (yourself, spouse, dependents, etc), and phone numbers and email. If anything from the prior return has changed, such as your address, please let us know what address you want to use. If you are using a forwarding address in the US, some states (such as Texas, from Mail Boxes or Handy Mail) are much easier than others. If you are permanently living in Mexico, you don’t need to be paying state income taxes to your former state! If you have a forwarding address to a friend in California, for example, this can cause problems with the state wanting you to pay taxes there. We can discuss these issues. If you just moved to Mexico this year, please give us the date of your move.

All “official” paperwork received by you, such as W-2s, 1099s, from banks, social security, pensions, IRA withdrawals, employers, K-1s, Constancias, etc. We don’t have to have the actual originals, but we do need a copy or fax of the originals. All of these can be sent securely to us using our Citrix file sharing site with bank level security, please do not send as e-mail attachments. If you need to send something via email ask us for a secure link and we will send to you for secure file uploading. This is very easy to use and critical for data security.

A copy of a US check (write VOID over it) so we can get routing and account numbers for direct deposit of a refund or direct IRS payment. It is NOT advisable to have a refund check mailed to you in Mexico, they frequently go missing. If you need to pay estimated taxes, we must set it up electronically at the time of your return preparation, or you will later have to go online yourself to make electronic payments.

If you have a rental property, we will need the information from the prior year as to address, etc. Please make sure you have a depreciation schedule for an existing rental property. If not, ask your previous accountant to provide one. If we are setting up a rental for the first time, we have a list of questions to ask for more details.

Deductions: Many people overseas use the Standard Deduction because they are no longer paying mortgage interest, real estate or state income taxes, and do not meet the level for itemizing deductions. This will be even more common with the Tax reform for 2018. However, if you do have enough deductions to itemize, we will need the 1098 form for mortgage interest and taxes, and a list of other deductions, such as medical expenses, charity, etc.

Foreign Partnerships or Foreign Corporations

Foreign Bank Account Reports (FINCEN 114, 8938)

This information return is due if during the prior calendar year you at any point in time had a combined maximum balance in your non US financial accounts of $10,000 USD or more. This includes accounts you own, own jointly or simply have the ability to sign for. To prepare this form for you, we need:

— Submit our Foreign Bank account questionnaire to us, available here:
— For existing clients we need to know the highest balances for this tax year and need to know if any accounts from last tax year have been closed or any new ones opened this year.

— Many of you have an account that pays interest or dividends. You will need to request that the bank provide the “constancia” or Mexico 1099 equivalent report for the account.

— If you believe any of your accounts may have foreign mutual funds as investments in the account please contact us regarding passive foreign investment company compliance and form 8621.

Foreign Corporations Or Partnerships (5471, 8865, 926)

Please provide us with:

— Your Mexican or other government tax return for this entity (Declaracion Anual). This should include a year-end balance sheet and profit-loss statement. (We understand it may be in Spanish or another language, and in a different currency).

— Our Form 5471/8865 Questionnaire (download) if this is the first year working with us, and/or your prior year copy of this form. Please review the questionnaire each year to ensure none of the basic facts have changed such as equity ownership.

Complete service included with your tax preparation

• Planning for future years for correct withholding or estimates, to avoid penalties to the IRS.

• Phone consultations for simple questions answered free outside of busy season.

• Examination of your current portfolio to look for ways to lower your tax bill.

ALL OFFICIAL PAPERWORK, CAN BE FAXED TO US AT OUR US FAX NUMBER

(303) 474-6460

OR UPLOADED SECURELY VIA THIS LINK

This is our US fax number which we make available to all of our clients, so you don’t have to wait to receive statements in the mail.

There is also available an official “organizer”. Some of you may have used this with other preparers. To us it feels like a lot of paperwork to fill out, but if you prefer to work in this fashion, we are more than happy to send you an organizer.

For new clients, we need a simple interview, either by phone or in person, and questionnaires to organize basic personal information and to assess the work you need. If you are in the Lake Chapala area or Guadalajara, please call for an appointment at (376) 765-5273.

If you are a former client and nothing has changed, feel free to just drop your information off during normal hours, or e-mail securely or fax to us directly. If you are a current client (or even former, such as from a few years ago), the important thing for us is to confirm that your prior information is still the same: address, email, bank deposit information, phone, same number of dependents, etc.

Payment can be received through PayPal (US debit, credit or personal PayPal account), by US check or via wire to our U.S. business account. All fees are in US Dollars, but will be converted to pesos, if you are paying in pesos, utilizing exchange rates published at www.bloomberg.com as of the day you pay.

A deposit is required to begin work on your current year return for new clients, and will be credited to your final price. This deposit is 50% of the estimated total return fee. You will receive an email with a link to PayPal requesting a deposit payment after our initial phone call. All your financial information is completely secure, and you do not have to have your own PayPal account. PayPal fees of 3% are added to the invoice for processing.

You will be invoiced for your final bill, with all schedules shown per the fee schedule, before the return is e-filed and/or copies and original documents returned.
Return to us signed e-file authorization forms as required and signed client disclaimer. A link to the standard individual client contract is here.