Financial services for USA Businesses
We are a boutique Chartered Accountancy firm specializing in multi jurisdictions – viz. India & USA.
Business and Financial Services – For USA
India and US have deep socio economic ties. There is a big Indian diaspora settled in US. Further India and US has close business ties. For Indian businessman, the US has always been a very lucrative attractive market for their products and services. As a tax advisor and consultant having knowledge of tax laws of both the countries, we are uniquely positioned to offer perspective and advise on issues on wholistic basis. Our key partner is CPA and CA.
Tax Services - US Tax filing
File 1040 or 1040NR with all necessary reporting generally applicable like FATCA, FBAR, etc. We also cover special situations like owning a foreign corporation (form 5471) or being a partner in foreign (Indian) partnership (form 8865) or Foreign ownership of US enterprise (form 5472) which triggers special reporting requirements and informational returns. On an ongoing basis we can help you to structure out your active / passive income in India or United States so as to minimize the tax outgo (including US self employment taxes).
US is one of the only two countries in the world who tax their citizens and residents (green card holders) on global bases – whether they live and earn in US or live and earn outside US they are liable to file a return and pay tax on their worldwide income. So, for an US expat living in India, the income is taxed twice, once in India (being Indian resident) and second time in US. The news is worse if you are self employed in a foreign country and receive active business income (say from India). Your income is also subject to employment taxes @ 15.3% (FICA taxes).
Fortunately, there are certain reliefs available in form of Foreign Tax Credit (FTC), Foreign Earned Income Credit (FEIE), DTAA between India and US to soften the blow (though not for FICA taxes).
There are typical tax conditions applicable to Indian expats qua their taxability. For example, agriculture income is tax free in India but taxable in USA. Similarly, profits from Partnership Firm or LLP in India is exempt in the hands of partner (is a translucent entity) but will be taxable in hands of US person for federal tax purposes. Similarly, for capital gains purposes, indexation of cost to offset the inflation when you sell a property is not allowed for US tax purposes. Similarly, investing in capital gains bonds exempts the capital gains in India but continues to attract tax irrespective of investment. Thus, there are host of issues which needs to be taken care of for dual taxed persons.
We are uniquely positioned to advise on such unique matters. Talk to us with ……..
Corporate structuring and filing
File 1065 or 1120 or 1120S for your partnership LLC or INC or S Corporation for your US business. Being an Indian entrepreneur, having a 100% owned company in US or joint ventures has its fair share of complexities. On India side, there are complex FEMA regulations to add to the woes. We are ideally positioned to advise on Double taxation treaty benefits (DTAA) which normally override the regular tax provisions in both the countries. Further there are many grey areas like transfer pricing, POEM rules (place of effective management), substance over form, etc. applicable on India and US side which should be carefully planned for while structuring the entities and planning operations.
Speak to us for your tax needs for your US corporations….
Online Ebay Amazon sellers
Are you selling your products in US on Amazon or planning to sell your products on Amazon / Ebay or any other online portals in US?
Online selling has many facets
Do you want to sell online through an LLC specifically created in US so that you get access to a US bank account and US entity name? Or you sell as individual / proprietorship or Indian Partnership firm?
Do you store your inventory in US (not in Amazon warehouses)?
Normally US will tax all your income which is considered to be “Effectively connected income from US”. This is conservative view and will cover online selling activity. However, one can take shelter in DTAA between India and US which is more liberal and avoid taxes in USA. But there are many fine considerations to be made in either case.
Certain formalities like filing of US return (1040NR), disclosing the treaty positions in return, claiming refund of the tax if any withheld by Amazon, alternatively submitting form BEN-8 (or it’s variants as applicable), etc. needs to be done.
Streamlined Procedure – for delinquent / non filers
US Citizens and green card holders need to file US tax returns even if they stay outside USA or does not have any US source income. If you have not filed the tax returns till date or you have missed filing past returns, IRS has amnesty scheme – STREAMLINED FOREIGN OFFSHORE PROCEDURES.
If the conditions for the scheme are met (non maintenance of abode in US and stay outside US for more than 330 days in any one of the past three years), on can avail the scheme. Under the scheme, one needs to file last three years return + 6 years FBAR. All penalties and tax for years preceding 3 years are waived. Interest is to be paid on any tax due.
Streamlined procedures are very good option for becoming compliant with your US tax filings.
Alternatively, we can also help to file outside the program in case you do not meet the criteria to be eligible for the program.
If you have filed your return, but missed filing FBAR or correctly reporting FBAR accounts, there is also similar program for filing delinquent FBAR with or without filing amended returns as required. Similarly, delinquent FATCA (form 8938) can also be filed along with FBAR reports by amending the tax return under SFOP.
If any informational return was missed to be filed like form 5471 for more than 10% interest in foreign corporation or form 8865 for more than 10% interest in foreign partnership, there is a special IRS program for delinquent informational return. The program entails amending last 3 years return along with a reasonable cause statement for failure to file.
International Merchandising business / international trading.
At times businesses get opportunity to purchase goods from country X and sell it in country Y without bringing them in their home country (i.e. India). FEMA laws are complex and do not afford enough flexibility to structure / carry out such transactions. To add to the woes, the GST provisions are also not very clear. An offshore company comes handy for carrying out such transactions. A foreign owned LLC in Delaware / Wyoming can be a vehicle of choice to carry out such transactions as it has distinct advantages like – low cost of incorporation and maintenance of company, – reputed jurisdiction like USA which enables carrying out the banking transactions smoothly – non taxability of the income in USA – no need to have an office and staff infrastructure.
Speak to us if are looking for any such structure…..
Bookkeeping services
Our bookkeeping services are designed to give peace of mind. For a small business, we provide complete bookkeeping with periodic reporting and financial statements. We work with ERPs, QBO, QB desktop, Xero or any other software. For a midsize business having multistate or multi store setup, we work as their extended accounting back office carrying out critical accounting functions and working closely with on site team.
Not every analysis, insight or reporting is directly available from accounting software. Additional analysis / insight is required by the client like product mixes, product margins, popular or most selling products, inventory insights, average interest cost per unit, sales pattern / comparisons over periods, cost comparisons, incentive calculations, deep vendor / customer reconciliations, etc. Such additional MIS is our forte and we extensively use advance excel to generate reports as per the need of the clients.
For CPAs or bookkeeping firms, we can be their extended office for accounting and tax work. We can be handy in half finished or messed up books or meeting tight deadlines. We think as you think. We constantly evaluate transactions and data from business owner’s perspective and never miss an opportunity to add value to the business of the client.
Our Amazing Clients
