Tried filing taxes as a resident in two countries at once, got a letter from the IRS 4 months later saying I owed them $2,300

I thought I was being careful (you know, using a CPA who specializes in cross-border stuff) but somehow I messed up the foreign tax credit form. The IRS letter was terrifying at first, but it turns out I just missed filling out one line. What I learned is that even the pros make mistakes with this stuff, and double checking everything yourself is still worth it. Has anyone else dealt with wild IRS confusion from having a second passport?

3 comments

3 Comments

jana8811mo ago

oh man been there done that. that sinking feeling when you open that irs envelope is the worst. i had almost the same thing happen when i was working in canada for a few months and did my taxes like i still lived in the states. they wanted an extra 1800 from me turns out i just messed up the form 1116 too. the pros screw stuff up all the time honestly you gotta check their work. what helped me was calling the irs directly and asking for a payment plan right away it makes them a lot less scary. also keep copies of everything when you deal with them. i also learned to set a reminder to double check any line that says "foreign something" on my return. it sucks but you got this.

cole_flores441mo ago

Hold up I gotta disagree a little here. If you are paying a pro you should expect them to get something as basic as the foreign tax credit right, that is literally their job. Calling the IRS first thing is smart but honestly if they messed up bad enough I would ask them to cover the penalty or at least refund part of what you paid them.

kai_webb911mo ago

Wait, has anyone else had their tax pro straight up ghost them after they made a mistake? I had this one year where my guy missed a whole retirement account rollover thing and I only caught it because my bank sent me a weird form. He acted like I was bothering him when I asked about it. Ended up just doing my own taxes the next year with that free software and it was way smoother. But hey, your mileage may vary on that one.