Is Tax Bright! a reputable company?

I have used Tax Samaritan, a USA-based accounting firm serving USA Expats .. for the past seven tax years.

Never a problem getting the job done or after filing.  Rapid response to questions.  This week they assisted me in understanding how I will obtain my covid-stimulus check.  My USA tax obligation is typically extremely low once Tax Samaritan has done its work.

Audit protection is optional.  I always have opted out.

www.taxsamaritan.com

I receive no compensation for this recommendation.  I believe this is the first time I have recommended Tax Samaritan publicly.

cccmedia

Thanks for your rapid input,I appreciate it. Thanks

You're welcome, Javier.  Since you have lived in Calarcá, Quindío, for years, you may have a tax obligation to the Colombia tax authorities based on USA income.  Consult some tax experts in Colombia as necessary.  USA-based firms may not be of much assistance for your Colombia taxes.

cccmedia

Colombiaafar
I am a Canadian expat living in Armenia 3 years now. Are you talking income taxes for DIAN? I have info as I have had mine done successfully for the last 2 years. We will give you an invite to our next Armenia expat coffee meet. In the meantime if you want to discuss DIAN taxes message me your cell number and I will call.

Good evening CanadaDoug: I was looking for recommendations for my U.S. taxes. I've done my Dian taxes here with a CPA here in Armenia. But It will be good to have phone numbers handy if something goes haywire. I'm living in Calarca I go by Mike my number is ***.

Taxes potentially owed to La DIAN are an excellent topic for discussion at Expat meetups.

Beyond the input from other Expats, Brother Archer and I have consistently advocated that potential taxpayers should contact multiple tax experts regarding Colombia taxation.

The reason is that the laws are interpreted wildly differently by individual 'experts'.  After my recent year in La República, I communicated with about five 'experts' and my obligation to La DIAN varied in their opinions from $8,000 US down to virtually zero.  Naturally, I chose the latter expert as my adviser of record after getting her DIAN-approved serial number.

Various tax attorneys and tax accountants will often give a free first consultation by phone or email, which may be enough to get a sense of what a particular expert assesses one's tax obligation to be.

cccmedia

Colombiaafar (Mike) wrote:

Good evening CanadaDoug: I was looking for recommendations for my U.S. taxes.  I'm living in Calarca.  I go by Mike my number is (deleted pending review)

When Doug suggested messaging him, Mike, he was likely meaning PM or Personal Messaging.

Click on his icon to the left of a post and then click on Send a Message to properly provide your phone number to him individually.

Giving out personal contact information such as a phone number on the forum is a no-no, which is why I am having the Home Office in the Mascarene Islands review your above post.

cccmedia, member of expat.com experts team

Based on your recommendation I contacted TaxSamaritan and got a quote from them - the base fee they want is $9000! Seriously? What planet do they live on? Not the same one I live on.

ChipW wrote:

Based on your recommendation I contacted TaxSamaritan and got a quote from them - the base fee they want is $9000! Seriously? What planet do they live on?

Neptune, apparently.

Seriously, I will follow up with my guy at Tax Samaritan.

I have never been charged more than a few hundred dollars per tax year, provided I don't opt in for audit protection.  As an Expat, I have been using my Ecuador address and not associating with any USA state, to eliminate potential state taxes.

cccmedia

I just looked at my message again and I see there is an error, I must have fat-fingered the number with an extra zero - it should be $900 for each year they have to submit, if any extra years are necessary. I don't think they are as my income was essentially zero for the last 10 years (I've been living off the life insurance from when my late wife passed away in 2010) Now I'm collecting SS, and probably still don't need to file BUT I want to get the government money from the covid government help whatever-that-was-called. The tracking site shows they sent me me the money but I've never received either of the first two, apparently they were lost in the mail.

Thanks for owning up to the error, Chip.

I emailed Jordan at Tax Samaritan earlier today .. and will do so again to let him know about the fat-finger mistake.

As I posted earlier, Jordan assisted me this month with the covid stimulus payment, which he determined will be/is being sent to my Social Security designated bank account in Ecuador.

FYI, if your income for a certain year was under about $10,000 US, you probably are not required to file a USA federal tax return for any such tax year.   You should be able to confirm this if you visit www.irs.gov ... 

cccmedia

Yes, that is correct, I am only filing because the stimulus money was apparently lost in the mail and supposedly by filing I will be able to get that money.

I need a tax acct. to do my taxes here in Colombia. Any recomendations