USA witholding Tax

[phutloose]

I visit America working for an Irish band several times a year.

I have been informed that for my next visit and last visit (in may) 30 % of my income will be withheld by the IRS.

I can either apply for US tax status and file tax returns in the US or I can get some kind of letter/form to say that I have paid what I paid to the US tax office and use this against my Irish tax returns.

My working visa is petitioned by and american company so I suppose technically they could be called my employer.

The issue for me is that I do not get paid in the US, I invoice and get paid by an Irish company in Ireland and I get paid in Euro from an Irish bank account. I obviously already pay tax on these earnings in Ireland.

I know this is a new issue and the IRS have only started chasing people for it but if anyone had any advice that would be great

Thanks

PH

 

[Domo]

As you actually earned the money in the US, the US wants to take tax on this earnings.

It sounds like the simplest thing you can do is claim a credit in Ireland for the US tax withheld, but this is subject to certain restrictions, and you may not get a credit for the full US tax withheld in Ireland.

The best thing to do would probably be to file a US return as a non-resident alien, and hopefully get a refund of the US taxes in full.

You really need to speak to a US tax specialist, and compare the costs of doing US returns each year to the amount of tax refund you would get to see what is your best option.

www.taxingtimes.ie