Month: November 2021

Foreign Citizens: Resident or Non-Resident Aliens?

Foreign citizens who earn income in the United States are subject to US income tax. But calculation of the tax depends upon whether the individual is a resident or nonresident alien. One of the important procedures for professionals with enrolled agent careers is knowing the difference.

There are two tests for determining whether a foreign citizen is a resident alien. The first analysis is the “green card test.” Any foreign citizen who possesses status under US immigration laws as a lawful permanent resident of the United States is a resident for tax purposes. The individual must not have abandoned this status or had it rescinded.

The second test requires some calculation effort. This is where training for an enrolled agent job is deployed. The “substantial presence test” considers how many days an alien was present in the United States, including the District of Columbia as well as US possessions, territories, airspace, or territorial waters.

An alien meeting the substantial presence test must have a physical presence in the US on at least 31 days during the current year plus 183 days during the current year and the preceding two years. Enrolled agent continuing education covers the unusual nuances of computing the days. All of the days present in the current year count as full days. But the calculation counts only one-third of the days present in the US during the immediately preceding year and one-sixth of the days two years ago.

There’s even more detail to this test covered in EA training. Some days are not counted at all. These are days that an alien regularly commutes to work in the US from a residence in Canada or Mexico. Regular commuting is considered to occur when it involves more than 75 percent of all workdays. Also not counted are days in the US for less than 24 hours when in transit between locations outside the US. The other days not counted are those when someone is only in the US as a crewmember of a foreign vessel or unable to leave the US due to uncontrollable circumstances, such as a medical condition.

In addition, some individuals are exempt from the substantial presence test. These aliens include officials of foreign governments, teachers or trainees with temporary visas, students with temporary visas, and professional athletes competing in charitable sports events.

Further complicating matters is that any foreign citizen in the US for less than 183 days during the current year may still receive treatment as a nonresident alien. Furthermore, some countries have treaties with the US providing special rules for determining residency.

Nonresident aliens report their US taxable income on Form 1040NR. These returns are due on April 15 for individuals who had US wages with income tax withholding. But the returns are due June 15 if there were no US wages subject to withholding.

Resident aliens follow the same tax laws as US citizens. They are taxed on income from all sources whether received from sources inside or outside the United States. Aliens with residency status that changes during the year generally have dual status for that year. The income for these individuals is taxed differently for the two periods.

Correctly determining all reportable income is a requirement of enrolled agent ethics. Foreign citizens with US income should consult tax experts. They will find that enrolled agents are among the most highly trained professionals on tax matters.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure

Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.

GED – The Key to Better Jobs and Higher Education

There is no short-cut to better jobs and higher education. For the 39 million American adults without high school diplomas, it can be frustrating to find that opportunities are closed to them. Pam Graves had experienced this frustration first hand.

As a new mother needing a higher-paying job, Graves applied for a position at a bank. When she saw that the application asked for her education, she knew that without a high school diploma, she wouldn’t even be considered for the position. She did something understandable: she lied. Nine months later, Graves was up for a promotion, but instead, she found herself without a job, again. The bank found out that she didn’t really graduate high school, and she lost her job.

Graves knew that she’d need to get her high school diploma to move forward with her life. That’s when she found out about the GED. Instead of taking night classes to finish high school, Graves was able to earn her GED diploma. Now, Graves works as an office manager. This year, she spoke at the GED graduation ceremony for local GED graduates, who included her two youngest brothers who earned their GED this year.

Graves hopes to earn a college degree, and keep moving forward in her life. Her story shows the challenges that face American adults who never graduated high school. The GED provides the opportunity to qualify legitimately for the better jobs and higher education that allow adults to care for their families and accomplish their goals in life.

The road to success takes a commitment to get your GED, but passing the GED is an achievable goal. Many people can prepare for the exams with a few weeks of brush-up. Most adults have more of a foundation of high school skills than they think. Learners, even if they’ve been out of school for a while or had trouble in the classroom, can gain the essential skills the GED tests through a good study program. Taking Pam Graves’ example and earning your GED can be a breakthrough decision for the rest of your life.

Private Investigation – Investigating Serious Incidents

Private Investigation Education: The Stages of Interrogation

Interrogation experts say that an interrogation consists of three stages: (1) establish rapport, (2) let the suspect tell the story and (3) challenge the story.

In the rapport stage the interrogator engages the suspect in innocent conversation such as asking questions about the suspect’s hobbies, interests and so forth. The objectives are to assess the suspect’s intelligence and attitude; get the suspect use to talking; and establish a relationship in which the interrogator is the dominant person.

In the second stage the suspect is encouraged to tell the story. Interruptions should be as infrequent as possible and non-threatening such as to say “Go on” or “What happened then?” The interrogator looks for obvious lies, such as comments that contradict what is already known, and other indicators that the suspect is untruthful or omitting facts. The interrogator wants to obtain as much information as possible so that there will be plenty to discuss in the third stage.

In the third stage the interrogator points out the discrepancies and gauges the suspect’s verbal and body language responses. These are called Deception Cues and can be

(1) phrases like “Honest to God” and “This is the truth”,

(2) avoiding the interrogator’s eyes,

(3) twitching,

(4) bouncing knees,

(5) drumming fingers,

(6) licking the lips,

(7) arms across the chest;

(8) picking imaginary lint from clothing,

(9) showing no emotion such as not inquiring about or expressing concern as to the victim’s condition and

(10) giving answers that are protective and show self-concern.

Another deception cue is called Cognitive Dissonance. The suspect’s mind is furiously concocting an answer but his mouth can’t keep up. Words are garbled and out of order.

The suspect may offer an explanation before a question is asked. For example, “By the way, that blood spot on the seat of my car was caused by her when she sneezed and had a nosebleed.” The blood spot may not have been detected by the police, a circumstance that would weaken the prosecution’s case and strengthen the defense. Another example is, “The stairs are very steep and that is why she fell down them.” If the private investigator has already been to the scene and taken photographs, they might reveal that the stairs are not steep at all. Showing the photos to the suspect is a way to point out an obvious lie.

If the incident involved physical violence, the interrogator will want to look for cuts, scratches and bruises inflicted by the victim.

When the interrogator reaches a point where further questions will not be helpful he or she moves to a method called Theme Development. In this method the interrogator suggests a scenario in which the suspect had little choice except to commit the offense. The theme is a story that portrays the suspect as a decent person that was confronted with unavoidable circumstance requiring a course of action. The interrogator might suggest that the victim was at fault, that the offense is not all that serious, that the average person would do the same and that people understand and be sympathetic. Theme Development offers the suspect an opportunity to make excuses that are self-exculpatory — yet incriminating.

Care must be taken not to elicit a false confession through extended interrogation, verbal abuse, inappropriate touching or misuse of the Two-Path technique by describing harsh punishment that is inevitable when the suspect does not confess as opposed to describing positive help and understanding that results from an admission. (Note: Many people believe that false confessions are rare but the advent of DNA testing shows that not to be the case.) Care must be taken to prevent the suspect from later claiming that he or she was denied use of the bathroom, not allowed to rest and not given water or food.

It can be helpful to have another private investigator present to take notes and serve as a witness. A video recording is extremely important because it can be used at a later time to verify and discover new Deception Cues, show that the interrogation was not excessively coercive (an interrogation is coercive to some extent always) and create pictorial evidence for presentation at trial.

For more information on this topic feel free to contact Jack Fay at 706 579 2559 or [email protected]