# You're a Freaking CPA? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 5, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226 "2011-04-05T02:21:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/1 "2011-04-05T02:21:31Z")
You’re kidding right? Really, you’re just some guy who wandered in off the street, right? I mean a CPA is expected to have some minimal level of education. No, I do not have a W-2 form. My employer is not required to give me one. Hell, how could he give me one you silly monolingual mouth-breather? I live and work in Saudi Arabia. No I do not have to prove how much I pay in Saudi taxes. There are no Saudi taxes. Saudi Arabia has oil instead, surely you know that, it was in all the papers. No, Saudi Arabia does not have a tax treaty with the US you idiot. No, I cannot provide you with a statement of my annual earnings. I operate on the Islamic calendar. Why the heck … No, I am not cheating on my taxes. No, I do not have to be a resident of the same state you are a resident of. I mean really, were your parents close kin? Look, The Discovery Channel obviously has not prepared you for the face-paced life of a tax preparer. Perhaps you ought to find something a little closer to your abilities. Something with a paper hat. I for one blame the public schools. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/2 "2011-04-05T02:30:57Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > No, I do not have a W-2 form. My employer is not required to give me one. Hell, how could he give me one you silly monolingual mouth-breather? I live and work in Saudi Arabia. > > No I do not have to prove how much I pay in Saudi taxes. There are no Saudi taxes. Saudi Arabia has oil instead, surely you know that, it was in all the papers. No, Saudi Arabia does not have a tax treaty with the US you idiot. > > No, I cannot provide you with a statement of my annual earnings. I operate on the Islamic calendar. Why the heck … > > . I blame your problems for living in a high paying shithole in the first place while still trying to keep an anchor in a no shithole democracy just in case… ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/3 "2011-04-05T02:34:55Z")
I sympathize with your annoyance, but now I’m really curious. How DO you pay taxes without a statement of annual earnings? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/4 "2011-04-05T02:36:49Z")
I earn under the amount you can earn without taxes. I make a statement to that effect. I am required to maintain my US citizenship and so (and oddly) am required to be a resident of some state or another. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/5 "2011-04-05T02:48:56Z")
US expatriate citizens are considered to maintain a domicile in the US wherever they last lived for legal purposes. In one sense, it’s just a simple way to establish what state you’d be a resident of if you came back. In another, it’s the only way you can establish where you can reasonably sue a non-resident US citizen. So if Paul sold his house in Peoria before upping sticks for Saudi, he’s domiciled in Peoria for our purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/6 "2011-04-05T02:52:55Z")
I mean it is not so hard, there are well over a million Americans resident outside the US. It is just some routine tax forms. This is not rocket surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/7 "2011-04-05T02:56:21Z")
Nor is it brain science. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/8 "2011-04-05T02:58:28Z")
Having once had the pleasure of trying to address these sorts of issues with the HQ and increasingly international execs in terms of the features of Intuit’s small business and personal finance products, I can tell you you are the outlier no one really gives a rat’s ass about. You need a specialist in international accounting and personal taxes. It is not reasonable for you to expect that every CPA is such an expert or even cares about such a field. I bet you expect your doctors to be specialists, and for the generalists, you don’t expect them to be all the specialists rolled into one. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/9 "2011-04-05T07:50:34Z")
Saudi Arabia has oil instead of taxes? How many barrels of oil do you have to pay? ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/10 "2011-04-05T08:22:17Z")
I know someone who had a job in Saudi Arabia for about 7 years ~1985-92. He said at the time that US expats such as him did not have to pay US Federal income tax on the 1st $70k I think it was. He did not mention anything about state taxes, so I guess there were none. One day while he was there the King issued a decree that all foreigners were to be taxed, starting soon. The entire guest-worker population of Saudi Arabia went on an immediate wildcat strike beginning the next day, and the day after that the King revoked the decree because it was obvious the country could not function at all unless the foreigners returned to work. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/11 "2011-04-05T09:09:35Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I blame your problems for living in a high paying shithole in the first place while still trying to keep an anchor in a no shithole democracy just in case… The “no shithole democracy” is one of the few country in the world, if not the only one, which requires its citizens to declare all their earnings to its government regardless of where they were earned. May I suggest taking your head out of where you have it? And **not\_alice** , I had no problem at all using the services of the volunteers who worked at IRS assisting people with our taxes. When I got an employer who included the services of Ernst&Young among other benefits for expats and repats, though? That was _painful_! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/12 "2011-04-05T09:09:56Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > I know someone who had a job in Saudi Arabia for about 7 years ~1985-92. > > He said at the time that US expats such as him did not have to pay US Federal income tax > on the 1st $70k I think it was. He did not mention anything about state taxes, so I guess > there were none. > > One day while he was there the King issued a decree that all foreigners were to be taxed, > starting soon. The entire guest-worker population of Saudi Arabia went on an immediate > wildcat strike beginning the next day, and the day after that the King revoked the decree > because it was obvious the country could not function at all unless the foreigners returned to work. Assuming this is accurate, isn’t it nice when strikes used to work? [/Wisconsin reference]] ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/13 "2011-04-05T09:36:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Assuming this is accurate… It is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/14 "2011-04-05T12:26:11Z")
If you’re earning under the $91500 limit why use a tax preparer at all? It should take all of 30 minutes to fill in the 1040 and 2555EZ. I did my 1040, 2555, and 1116 in about an hour yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/15 "2011-04-05T13:25:51Z")
I have US pensions and other incomes, which are taxable. The plan is to get all the paperwork faxed to me here and then using last year’s as a guide, do the fool thing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/16 "2011-04-05T13:40:43Z")
I have similar problems, but for different reasons. I have incomes in two countries with different tax years (Australia is July to June; the U.S. is January to December). Because I’ve reached retirement age, I have Australian income which is tax-free in Australia, but which I have to pay tax on in the U.S. International tax arrangements can be very complex, so I’m not surprised that an ordinary CPA has trouble getting his mind around tax systems different from that in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/17 "2011-04-05T15:01:58Z")
You should use TurboTax. It is a computer and will care to know more about expat income and pensions than your “alleged CPA”. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/18 "2011-04-05T15:39:58Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > \ You need a specialist in international accounting and personal taxes. It is not reasonable for you to expect that every CPA is such an expert or even cares about such a field.\ Sorry, **Paul** , I have to agree with this. Expat taxation is not standard taxation. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > You should use TurboTax. It is a computer and will care to know more about expat income and pensions than your “alleged CPA”. Isn’t TurboTax the one with the class action suit against it? I’m not sure if you’re being funny or not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/19 "2011-04-05T15:47:43Z")
Expat taxes are pretty darn standard where I live. In fact everybody at the office is an expat. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226/20 "2011-04-05T15:50:09Z")
Good point - so you went to a CPA in an area where everyone’s an expat? In that case, he needs to learn his business. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-freaking-cpa/577226.md?page=2)