Hi Everyone! My husband is a recent green card recipient. This will be his first year filling in the US. We are DESPERATE to find someone to help us file our taxes this year. It seems like Pete Newton is completely booked until after April 15th. Anyone have anyone else they can recommend???
THANK YOU

Can you not file an extension and see Pete after April 15th?

They said we could do that. To be honest I've never personally filled an extension and neither has any of my friends or family but we are all us citizens. I'm a little hesitant-is there an actual advantage other then being able to work with a favored cpa? We are broke newlyweds so we are also trying to avoid unnecessary expenses.

An extension is easy to file and free at the point of filing. If, when you file your taxes it transpires that you owe money there is a (very small) penalty for paying late. ..... If you believe you are going to owe the IRS you can make an advance payment by 4/15.

Course a tax professional won't be cheap

Are you sure you need one?

There are several BE members who are extremely knowledgeable and consistently reply to peoples tax queries with quite informed recommendations.

And will suggest professional advice if the issues appear to warrant it.....in which case you might then consider filing for an extension - as it will probably be difficult to find someone qualified at such relatively short notice.

Our return is going to be a little less then straight forward and since its our first year I really want to make sure it's done right. I'm really just trying to see if I can get any CPA recommendations! Thanks!

I understand your nervousness and desire to have a pro do it for this first year, but I agree that filing an extension would be a good thing to do and give you plenty of breathing space.

I know a lot of folks who use TaxAct.com to file their taxes. It is free and should be very easy to use to file an extension. It will also be fun to play with while getting a tax pro lined up.

Unless you have significant complicating factors, such as investment income, partnership interests, foreign or domestic trusts, etc., you really don't need a CPA to prepare your taxes, and as you have self-disclosed as being "broke", I know there are better things for you to do with (likely) $500+ than pay a CPA.

Realistically the chances of a low value tax return being audited is extremely low, and unless you have made an utter hash of it the chances of you being assessed a penalty resulting from an audit is even smaller. A little patience, some questions asked to BE, and some extra time bought with an extension and you really shouldn't worry about taking care of your own tax return.

.....but if you still feel you'd prefer to go to a tax professional rather than try to file on your own....

1) There are CPAs and there are also EAs (Enrolled Agents )
The latter will, in all likelihood, be a good deal less expensive.
I believe Pete Newton is an EA - and, as such - a rare exception - in that I doubt many other EAs would be conversant with the more arcane issues of US/UK taxation
OTOH - perhaps your specific concerns are not that arcane

2) Do a BE search for other recommendations.
I seem to recall that Nun provided a few in the past (tho I believe he said he'd not used any of them himself).
FWIW I believe Nun's the most informed and knowledgeable member of BE, with regard to tax matters; I feel he'd never suggest a firm whose qualifications he deemed to be less than first class.

3) US - UK Taxes
Although this forum is primarily geared toward those based in UK - there are tax accountant firms associated with it who are based in both countries.
Again - not going to be cheap....but have a look

ps: I think this link will bring up firms based in UK with US branches:
http://www.uk-yankee.com/googlesearc...ions&sa=Search

I have used taxact for 5 years and IMO its superb. I highly recommend it.

So do it yourself using one of the self preparation packages. Being a US Citizen, one of the fundamentals is knowing how to file a return.

Time is running out. I would get started

Does this package allow you to include foreign income easily (flat rental in the UK)? Oh, and the Form 8938 for bank accounts abroad? At the moment I am forking out $450+ for H&R B to do what on the face of it seems like a fairly simple return.

Why are you so worried? If you could tell us about any particular complications maybe we could help. In most circumstances TaxAct or Turbo-Tax work perfectly well.

I believe it does, but since it is free why not give it a try yourself with some real or made up numbers. I use a desktop version of TurboTax which is free to me through Vanguard but I have used TaxAct in the past which did include my reporting my UK pension (this was pre-FATCA). If you are renting out a flat you own then look at what forms and methods H&R Block used on your previous return and see if you can duplicate them in TaxAct.

Free? My favourite price! Good tip - thanks