Question 1

Will a tax mistake affect my green card or my naturalization application?

Accepted Answer

This is the question we are asked most, so here is a direct answer. Tax compliance can come up in naturalization, and applicants are generally expected to have filed and to have addressed anything owed. What matters is a consistent, good-faith filing history — not a perfect one. Honest mistakes get corrected through amended returns and, for unreported foreign accounts, through the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, which exist specifically for people who did not know. Correcting something proactively is treated very differently from having it found. If you are behind, the worst option is to keep waiting. Immigration consequences are a legal question for an immigration attorney, and we work alongside one when a situation calls for it.

Question 2

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Fill out the contact form or email us to schedule a free consultation. We will ask about your visa or residency history, your compensation including equity, and anything you still hold abroad — accounts, investments, property, family money. From that we recommend a scope and quote it before any work begins.

Question 3

Do you work with clients remotely?

Accepted Answer

Entirely. Almost all of our clients work with us online through the secure portal, across every U.S. time zone and several outside it.

Question 4

How do you protect my financial data?

Accepted Answer

All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. The client portal uses passwordless sign-in and row-level security, so your documents are reachable only by you and the people working on your account.

Question 5

My company withheld tax on my RSUs. Why did I still owe in April?

Accepted Answer

RSU vests are withheld at a flat supplemental rate, not at your marginal rate. For most technology salaries the marginal rate is higher, and nobody withholds the difference. It shows up as a balance due at filing, sometimes with an underpayment penalty attached. The fix is quarterly estimated payments or extra withholding, arranged before the vest.

Question 6

Some of my equity vested while I was still working in my home country. How is that taxed?

Accepted Answer

Equity income is generally sourced across the service period that earned it. If part of that period happened abroad, part of the income may be foreign-source, which changes both what the U.S. taxes and what foreign tax credit you can claim. It is commonly handled wrong in both directions, and it is worth getting right in the first year it applies.

Question 7

I exercised ISOs but did not sell anything. Why might I owe tax?

Accepted Answer

An ISO exercise produces no regular taxable income, but the spread between your strike price and the fair market value is an adjustment for alternative minimum tax. You can owe real cash on shares you have not sold and may not be able to sell. Exercise timing is the main lever.

Question 8

I moved to the U.S. partway through last year. Which return do I file?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your residency start date under the substantial presence test. A dual-status return is the common default — nonresident rules before the start date, resident rules after — but dual-status filers cannot take the standard deduction or file jointly, so elections that produce a full-year resident return are often better. We model both before choosing.

Question 9

My spouse is not a U.S. resident. Can we file jointly?

Accepted Answer

Yes, by election under section 6013(g). It usually reduces the bill, but it also brings your spouse's worldwide income and foreign accounts into the U.S. reporting net. Whether it is worth it depends on their income and what they hold abroad.

Question 10

Does a treaty with my home country mean that income is not taxed here?

Accepted Answer

Usually not on its own. Most U.S. treaties include a saving clause allowing the U.S. to tax its own residents as though the treaty did not exist, with specific exceptions. A position that does survive generally has to be disclosed on Form 8833, and failing to disclose carries its own penalty.

Question 11

I have a green card but I am thinking of leaving the U.S. What should I know?

Accepted Answer

Green card status keeps you a U.S. tax resident until it is formally abandoned or revoked, wherever you live. Long-term holders who do give it up may fall under the section 877A expatriation rules, which can impose a mark-to-market tax. That is far easier to plan for before you leave than to unwind afterward.

Question 12

Do I have to report the bank account I still have back home?

Accepted Answer

If your foreign accounts together exceed the FBAR threshold at any point in the year, yes — and the test is aggregate across all accounts, on the highest balance, not the year-end balance. Depending on totals, Form 8938 may apply as well. The two have different thresholds and are filed differently, so meeting one does not satisfy the other.

Question 13

I am a joint holder on my parent's account but the money is not mine. Does it count?

Accepted Answer

For FBAR purposes, signature or other authority over an account can create a filing obligation even with no beneficial ownership. Family convenience accounts are one of the most common sources of unreported accounts we see.

Question 14

My parents sent money for a house. Is that taxable?

Accepted Answer

A gift from a foreign individual is generally not taxable income to you. But once the total received in a year crosses the reporting threshold it must be disclosed on Form 3520, and the penalty for not disclosing is a percentage of the amount — on money you never owed tax on. Report it and it costs nothing.

Question 15

I have mutual funds back home. Is that a problem?

Accepted Answer

Potentially an expensive one. Non-U.S. pooled investments are generally passive foreign investment companies, reported on Form 8621 under a default regime that taxes gains at the highest ordinary rate and adds an interest charge across the entire holding period. Many investment-linked insurance policies sold abroad are caught too. Better elections exist, but most must be made early, so this is worth reviewing before you buy anything further.

Question 16

I have not reported any of this for years. What now?

Accepted Answer

The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures exist for taxpayers whose failure was not willful, which describes almost everyone who simply was never told. It generally involves amended returns, back FBARs, and a certification, with substantially reduced or no penalties. Coming forward voluntarily is treated very differently from being found.

Question 17

I bought crypto years before I moved to the United States. Is the gain taxable here?

Accepted Answer

Usually yes, and it is the most expensive surprise we see. Your basis generally carries over from what you originally paid — there is no general step-up to market value on the day you became a U.S. tax resident. Someone who bought early and abroad, then sells after moving here, can be taxed by the U.S. on appreciation that happened almost entirely before they arrived. Most people assume the opposite. It is worth planning around the sale date, and around your residency start date, before you sell rather than after.

Question 18

Do I have to report crypto held on an exchange outside the U.S.?

Accepted Answer

That splits into two reporting regimes, and they are not equally settled. FBAR was written for banks and brokerages, and how it applies to digital assets has been the subject of proposed changes rather than settled rules — anyone giving you a confident one-word answer there is overselling. Form 8938 is considerably less unclear, and the conservative practitioner position already leans toward reporting. For both, an account holding regular currency alongside crypto is a different case from a crypto-only custodial account. We look at what your account actually holds and take a documented position rather than guessing.

Question 19

My exchange sent me a tax form and the numbers do not match my records. What now?

Accepted Answer

That is normal and fixable. Broker reporting for digital assets is phasing in, and early forms often carry proceeds with no reliable basis — particularly for assets you moved in from another platform or a self-custody wallet. The form is a starting point, not a verdict. We reconcile it against your own transaction history and report what actually happened, with working papers to support it.

Question 20

My side project started earning. Should I set up an LLC?

Accepted Answer

Often, but rarely for the reason people expect. A single-member LLC does not by itself change your federal income tax — by default it is taxed exactly as if you had no entity at all. What it changes is liability, how you look to customers and platforms, and the door it opens to an S-corp election later, which can reduce self-employment tax once profit is consistently high enough to justify the payroll overhead. That election has a tradeoff worth knowing up front: it forecloses Qualified Small Business Stock treatment, since QSBS requires C-corporation stock. Setting an entity up too early adds cost and paperwork for no tax benefit.

Question 21

Do I have to charge sales tax on a SaaS product?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the state, and the states genuinely disagree. Some tax software-as-a-service, some tax downloaded software but not hosted, and some tax neither. The obligation you are most likely to have first is in your own state, where physical presence creates nexus from your first dollar of sales with no threshold at all. Beyond your home state, the obligation generally starts once your sales or transaction volume there crosses that state's threshold — so a product with customers everywhere can acquire obligations in places you have never been. Worth mapping once, early, rather than during diligence.

Question 22

My payment processor reported more revenue than I actually received. Why?

Accepted Answer

Because a 1099-K generally reports gross payment volume — before processor fees, refunds, chargebacks, and platform cuts. That is not an error, and the fix is not to leave it off your return. Report the gross figure as income, then deduct the fees, refunds, and chargebacks as business expenses, so your return reconciles to the same number the IRS already has. Reporting only your net proceeds is what invites a mismatch notice, so keep the reconciliation on hand.

Question 23

I have a W-2 job and consulting income on the side. Does that change my taxes?

Accepted Answer

More than most people expect. Self-employment tax applies to the consulting income, your W-2 withholding no longer covers your full liability, and business deductions become available that an employee cannot take. The two sides should be planned as one picture.

Question 24

What accounting software do you support?

Accepted Answer

Mainly QuickBooks Online, and also Xero, FreshBooks, and Wave. We handle migration between platforms and cleanup if the books are behind.

Question 25

Can you time my estimated payments around my vesting schedule?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A large vest and a good quarter of business income landing together can trigger an underpayment penalty even when the annual numbers look fine. We plan the quarters together.

Question 26

How do I access the client portal?

Accepted Answer

Choose Client Portal in the navigation and enter your email. We send a secure sign-in link — no password to remember or lose.

Question 27

What can I do in the portal?

Accepted Answer

Upload and download documents securely, message us directly rather than by email, see recent activity on your account, and manage your settings. Documents in any language are fine; we will tell you what we still need.

Question 28

Is the portal secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Passwordless sign-in, encrypted storage, row-level security so only you and your account team can reach your files, and HTTPS throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Equity Compensation

Residency & Treaties

Foreign Accounts & Assets

Crypto & Digital Assets

Product & Business Income

Bookkeeping

Client Portal

This page is not immigration advice