There are many CPA firms here in San Francisco. From small one-man or one-woman shops to gigantic multinational CPA firms. However, there are very few of them – even the big ones – that are truly international CPA firms, but at Safe Harbor, we are one of the few.
The fact is that international taxes can be complicated – very complicated. Residents of San Francisco come from all over the world, and in that sense, we are an international city. So, you may be a foreign resident living here and earning most of your income here, or it could be the other way around – the majority of your income coming from overseas.
You could be an American citizen with business interests overseas or you could be an American citizen working overseas and earning all your income there. You may well need expat tax preparation. As one of the few international CPA firms in San Francisco, we can help you with that.
One thing that you should not do if you have income from overseas is to endeavor to do your own tax preparation. The fact is that it is all too easy to make mistakes – even honest ones. Even we, as an international CPA firm, don’t profess to know everything. But the fact is that we work in partnership with many CPA firms overseas who are familiar with their local laws, of course.
It Works Both Ways
This works both ways, because when we need to know something about your taxes in, say, Germany, we talk to our German partners, and when they have an issue with US taxes they will come and ask us.
International taxes are, as we said, complicated. You could be a foreign national living and working in California and with all your income here, but technically remain a citizen of, say, the Philippines, or Japan, or the UK. You might be a student in the US on a visa.
Furthermore, you might move back and forth between the US and China, or Canada, or Mexico, and spend different periods abroad. Can you begin to see just how complicated all this can be when you need to file taxes in different countries?
Fortunately, at Safe Harbor, as one of the few international CPA firms in San Francisco, our team of CPAs, bookkeepers, and specialist accountants has a great understanding of international taxes. Above all, no matter where you have income, you want to pay the absolute minimum amount of tax, wherever you have to pay it. Our goal is to ensure that you always pay not a cent, dime, euro, penny, franc, or anything else, more than the various laws require.
