Tax Time For U.S. Expats in the Philippines

Also, if anyone can throw their own thoughts on taxes that  does not fit into my questions, I would be more than happy to read them.

Always remember to proofread before you hit send. (LOL)

I maintain a US address in Georgia which is actually the home of my wife's sister. My pension and Social Security won't be subject to Georgia state tax so I'll only pay Federal. I also maintain a US phone which my sister in law keeps for me for the OTPs. My wife is online with her sister almost every morning and evening so I do the things that require a OTP, like Turbo Tax, when she is online.

Moon Dog

Thanks for the reply. I am currently living in Kansas and was planning on maintaining a mailing address at my sister's house here in Kansas. This morning, I had just requested drawing a monthly income from my IRA to subsidize me SS. My financial advisor informed me it couldn't be done without paying taxes to the state of Kansas. So now I am rethinking this plan and wondering if I can use a Philippine address solely. Before I make any decision, I would still like to speak with a tax expert here and determine the tax liability to a state I will not be residing in. I understand Kansas will not tax my SS but the IRA is a different story.

Also, what do you mean by OTPs?

According to the link below:

"You are not required to provide U.S. address on your Expat Tax Return and can use a foreign address instead."



https://www.taxesforexpats.com/articles … e-one.html

OTP is the "One Time Password" that is sometimes sent to the phone number on record in order to log on to certain web sites. When I log in to a web site requiring the OTP I make sure my sister in law is on line and she relays the OTP sent to my cell phone that is with her. I have a Mint Mobile phone at her house that costs me $180 plus tax for a one year load, cheapest I could find.

I had to maintain a US address or change banks. Wells Fargo does not allow foreign addresses and I didn't want to change a bunch of stuff like pension and SS direct deposits to switch banks.

OTB, "One Time Password" various banks use various login's. What works with one bank may not work with another bank.

Some email an OTB, some robocall  call your telephone of record,  with some banks it works and others you never receive the call. I should preface this, I use VOIP so some times I never get the robocall.

With Citibank they will sms my Philippine cell. Again I should preface this,  their website will not accept such a long number +63***********. But, with a phone call to them, they were able to input the number so it can work.

With Chase/JP Morgan they ask me to call for OTB, since you can dangle for long periods of time waiting for assistance, I gave up.

The easiest way to handle those type of banks, is just have auto bill to those credit cards. Using online billing, their notice of payment due will be the same each month, so no need to actual view your account.

Finally, Never, Never use a Philippine address, your mail may take months or not even arrive. I use US Global Mail as my stateside address. It's cheaper if you use a relatives address, but I prefer to leave them out of the loop.

US financial institutions and brokerage houses don't like foreign addresses and it can complicate tax filing, so I have always maintained a US address, but when I lived full time in PI, I rented my primary residence and used US Global Mail, which Bob mentions. Great service, and serves as a stateside address.  I have the OTP turned off for most banks and financial institutions, even Vanguard allows you to do this. But now Gmail of all things is harassing me with this stupid secondary authorization. Fortunately I have another email service if i cant fix that.

I don’t claim to be an expert during my research once your a residence of a state it can be very difficult to remove yourself as a resident unless you change it to another state. Best option is try and setup a residence in a state with no income tax like Florida or Texas. Usually requires to switch your driver license to the new state.

I have also been using US Global Mail for almost 2 years and I am very happy with their service. The amount of mail I receive has slowed to a small trickle, but they are also good for consolidating things that I buy on Walmart.com and Target.com, etc., that can't be found in the Philippines or on Amazon.com (Amazon's shipping charges are really low if you have Prime).

I use TurboTax and had no problem with it last year. I think you can enter your physical address (in the Philippines) and a mailing address (USGM in Houston). I also have an AT&T mobile account for the OTPs - $75 for a half-dozen text messages a month. Ugh! But it works.

I understand that a few banks in the Philippines will accept direct deposit of social security payments, but I maintain an account at BofA because I don't really trust PI banks. It costs a bit to transfer funds when I need them here, but it's worth it.

We used CashApp tax (formerly CreditKarma Tax) this year. It's free. We filed Jan 30 and got the refund via direct deposit in one week. Very easy to use.

We use PhysicalAddress dotcom in Orlando for our mailing address. Florida has no state income tax.

Last year we used TurboTax. It was fine, but not free.

For OTP (access codes) we use a Google Voice number to receive text. We also maintain two magicJack numbers, but they don't always work for text. Different financial institutions have different quirks about this but we've always been able to make it work. NOTE: we got 3 Google Voice numbers before leaving the US in 2020, one for me, one for my wife, one for my daughter. I don't think you can sign up from Philippines but I could be mistaken. If you use GV for voice calls, it's very clear with little delay.

No other advice, except don't forget to file your FATCA report before
April 15, if applicable.

Billy

Ah yes, FATCA. Another great reason to never open up a Phils bank account. More bureaucarcy and paperwork we don't need. We keep our money (savings, SSA, pensions) in our USA local credit union as we have for decades and we withdraw what we need from a local ATM or transfer from Remitly. Yes, our CU started using that stupid OTP which is not good for expats. So far no problems getting OTP messages sent to our google voice phone number via messaging. If the CU ever decides to stop accepting VOIP numbers like that, then we will use phone banking but rely much more heavily on transferring to a Wise account which is a British company and doesn't do that OTP nonsense (being more focused on expats). Magic Jack only works with OTP once in a while but google voice which is associated with the Magic Jack number has never failed...so far, until/unless they make more stupid restrictions.

1. What if FACTA?  2. Would it work to change the 2 factor to email vs cell number and some offer a phone call?  Just asking thanks.

FYI, you can use a virtual cell phone and you can receive the OTP's on your Philippine cell running the virtual cell app.  I use Hushed, and it's a lot cheaper than keeping a US cell phone service.  I hope this helps.

I also use a US address for taxes as well.  I don't feel brave enough to claim the Philippines as my only home address just yet.

For what its worth, we use traveling mailbox with a US address in our home state that does not have state income tax. Very happy with their service which is about $200/year.
2 banks in the US, one is charles schwab-no fees at all for ATM withdraws (they reimburse fees at the end of the month) the other bank I have to call using my philippine phone thats a $5 to 10 call every couple months.
The best way to transfer money to our PNB account is wise(formerly transfer wise).
All pensions go to US accounts.
I'm going to do taxes online from philippines myself - I'll see how that works out

.

All pretty quick this year, efiled with Turbotax last Monday and received my direct deposit on Friday of the same week.

Anyone use the new lol voice google and the app to keep your US number?  I have 2 Verizon numbers I'm going to port one to Google and then cancel the other , Thanks

Tax season.   Hate it.   Can't escape it.       

For those with properties still in US, how do you pay for property tax? 

How do you get your US mail/documents sent to you in Pinas if you have no relative left you can trust in US?

Gardo Fuentes wrote:

How do you get your US mail/documents sent to you in Pinas if you have no relative left you can trust in US?

SIMPLE:

Do what many of us do, use US Global Mail.

Quick Q riding off of yours:

I think we're exempt from paying diddly-squat! However, filing is still a must correct? How do I file ? Easiest method from the Philippines? How do I back tax all the way back to 2001?

All answers welcome , Salamat 🌹

the only folks that are exempt from paying diddly-squat would be the ones that do not qualify per dollar wise.  in other words... if you come in under the (you do or don't have to file a return) requirement which is I think about $24k- you don't even have to file over 65 with SS income..  If your income is less than your standard deduction, you generally don't need to file a return (provided you don't have a type of income that requires you to file a return - here is a link you can exercise to find out if you do or do not have to file.  (  https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-need- … tax-return  )
It is probably best to call the IRS.. and ask for the SS income / pension income tax estimate representative to help you through the process... take about 15mins.

omarwebber111 wrote:

Quick Q riding off of yours:

How do I back tax all the way back to 2001?

The IRS has a 10 year statute of limitations. So if you owed taxes from 2001 to 2012 don't sweat it filing a return.

If you have refunds due to you they only go back three years.

If now you decide to file taxes for the current and back years the IRS has three years to do a audit if they deem necessary from date of filing.

omarwebber111 wrote:

Quick Q riding off of yours:

I think we're exempt from paying diddly-squat! However, filing is still a must correct? How do I file ? Easiest method from the Philippines? How do I back tax all the way back to 2001?

All answers welcome , Salamat 🌹

Well.  I  dont know if true, but I got told in different from other countries USA even charge for income from work Americans earn ELSEWHERE than in USA!!!  (If not under the free limit.)

This is true. Even if u work n live in another country (especially if u do work overseas for an American co.),, if you are a US citizen u fall under US tax laws...a is citizen cannot escape it! One may also have to pay taxes in the foreign country they live in.. every country's gonna get their $$$.

Harbred6051 wrote:

This is true. Even if u work n live in another country (especially if u do work overseas for an American co.),, if you are a US citizen u fall under US tax laws...a is citizen cannot escape it! One may also have to pay taxes in the foreign country they live in.. every country's gonna get their $$$.

While e g Swedes can escape    
except e g  royalties can be taxed in  Sweden even if live abroad.