1)  When is the due date for filing my federal individual income tax return? Can I request an extension?

 Return Type  Original Due Date  Extended Due Date
Form 1040

Individual

 April 15th

If you’re a calendar year filer and your tax year ends on December 31.

 October 15th

If you have previously filed an extension on Form 4868.

For more information, please refer to the following link:

Important U.S. Tax Filing Deadlines for Taxpayers Overseas | American Pacific Tax Limited

2)  How do I make a tax payment?

Paying electronically:

https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/paying-your-taxes

  1. Direct Pay

 Allows taxpayers to securely pay their federal taxes directly from their checking or savings account without any fees or preregistration.         Taxpayers can schedule payments up to 365 days in advance. After submitting a payment, taxpayers will receive immediate confirmation.

  1. Debit or Credit Card

Individuals can pay online, by phone or with a mobile device through any of the authorized payment processors which charges a fee.

  1. Electronic Funds Withdrawal (EFW)

This option allows taxpayers to file and pay electronically from their bank account when using tax preparation software or a tax professional. This option is free and only available when electronically filing a tax return.

Paying by check, money order or cashier’s check:

If you choose to mail your tax payment, please refer to: https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-by-check-or-money-order

3)  How to check the status of my tax payment?

  1. You may check your bank account if the payment has been withdrawn from your bank account.
  2. If payment was made through the IRS Direct Pay, you can also use the Confirmation Number that was provided when you made the payment to lookup the payment:https://directpay.irs.gov/directpay/paymentManager?execution=e1s1
  3. Another option is to sign up for an IRS account online: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript and once signed up, you could then obtain the necessary tax transcript.

4)  How to check the status of my tax refund?

Your refund status is available on:

You will need to provide your social security number or ITIN, filling status and exact refund amount when checking the refund status. You can start checking on your refund 24 hours after e-filing or 4 weeks after you have mailed your return.

You can call the IRS if it has been 21 days or more since you e-filed, or 6 weeks or more since you mailed your return. If you lost your refund check, you can initiate a refund trace by calling IRS at 800-829-1954.

5)  How do I obtain a copy of my U.S. tax transcript?

You may obtain a transcript from the IRS through either an online request or a transcript sent by mail.

To view the step-by-step process, please refer to the following link:

How do I obtain a copy of my prior year US tax transcript online? | American Pacific Tax Limited

6)  What penalties may I incur if I don’t file or pay my tax on time?

Individual taxpayers need to be ensured that the process in filing their tax returns is both accurate and within the deadline. Some common types of penalties:

  • Failure to File: 5% penalty of unpaid tax each month capped at 25% of tax due
  • Failure to Pay: 0.5% monthly penalty + daily interest on unpaid balance
  • Failure to Pay Proper Estimated Tax

For more detailed information, please refer to the following link:

Penalties to watch out for | American Pacific Tax Limited

7)  What is Form W-8 and W-9? Which one should I use?

Both the W-8 and W-9 forms are sent to the withholding agents and/or payer of U.S. source income.

Form W-8 is used by non-U.S. person who earn U.S sourced income. It determines how much of your earned income should be withheld by the IRS.

Form W-9 is used by U.S. person to report your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) as either a Social Security Number (SSN) or Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

For more information, please refer to the following link:

My Hong Kong bank is asking me for a W-8 or a W-9 for my personal account? Which one should I use? | American Pacific Tax Limited

8)  What is FATCA? Do I need to file FBAR or Form 8938?

FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is a U.S. law introduced in March 2010. FATCA focuses on additional information reporting by U.S. taxpayers about certain financial accounts and offshore assets. FATCA also introduced Form 8938 to disclose certain foreign financial accounts and offshore accounts if the total value is more than certain limitations set by the IRS.

As such, the disclosure requirements for both FBAR and Form 8938 have different thresholds and limitations. The criteria for filing these forms are as follows:

FBAR:

File if the aggregate value of foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

Form 8938:

Unmarried individuals (or married filing separately) living in the US

File if the total value of assets was more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $75,000 at any time during the year.

Unmarried individuals (or married filing separately) living outside the US

File if the total value of assets was more than $200,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $300,000 at any time during the year.

Married individuals living outside the US: 

File if the total value of assets was more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $600,000 at any time during the year.

To see the detailed requirements for different specified individuals, please refer to:

Do I need to file FBAR or Form 8938? | American Pacific Tax Limited

 

9)  Do I need to report my Mandatory Provident Accounts (MPF)? How do I obtain this information?

MPF accounts are considered reportable financial accounts on the FBAR and FATCA filing Form 8938. Individuals can consolidate and view their own MPF personal accounts at any time either through the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (“MPFA”) e-Enquiry of Personal Account (ePA) website or mobile app.

To access either method, please refer to the following links:

Instructions: How to obtain Hong Kong personal Mandatory Provident Fund account information? | American Pacific Tax Limited

 

10)  How much can you Gift?

The gift tax is imposed by the IRS when the value of the property transferred (directly or indirectly) exceeds the value of consideration received in return.

For 2024, the annual gift tax exclusion is $18,000, up from $17,000 in 2023. This means you can give up to $18,000 in 2024 without any of it being subject to the federal gift tax.

For more information, please refer to the following link:

https://americanpacifictax.com/i-made-a-gift-now-what/