IRS Reminder: June 15 Deadline For Second Quarter Estimated Tax Payments

The Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers who pay estimated taxes that they have until June 15 to pay their estimated tax payment for the second quarter of tax year 2021 without penalty.

Estimated tax is the method used to pay tax on income that isn’t subject to withholding. This includes income from self-employment, interest, dividends, rent, gains from the sale of assets, prizes and awards. You may also have to pay estimated tax if the amount of income tax being withheld from your salary, pension or other income isn’t enough.

Who must pay estimated tax?

Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, and S corporation shareholders, generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe tax of $1,000 or more when they file their return.

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WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today encouraged taxpayers who work seasonal jobs or are employed part of the year to visit the Withholding Calculator and perform a “paycheck checkup.”

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made changes to the tax law, including increasing the standard deduction, eliminating personal exemptions, increasing the child tax credit, limiting or discontinuing certain deductions and changing the tax rates and brackets. These changes do not affect 2017 tax returns due earlier this year, but they will affect 2018 tax returns filed next year. Read More

If you are a certified qualifying non-resident employer, then you do not have to withhold taxes from the salary or other compensation paid to employees that are qualifying non-resident employees in Canada.

Discussion:

In order to be a qualifying non-resident employee, the employee must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a resident of a country that has a tax treaty with Canada at the time of the payment;
  • Not be liable for income tax in Canada due to the tax treaty and the type of payment received; and
  • Either works less than 45 days in the calendar year in Canada or is present less than 90 days in any 12 month period in Canada.

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A qualifying non-resident employer can be certified and thus will have to withhold tax from the salary or other compensation paid to qualifying non-resident employees in Canada (to be covered in a future FAQ). This eliminates withholding taxes. Which can be a big cash flow savings. The certification will be valid for up to two calendar years.

To be eligible to be a qualifying non-resident employer, the employer must be a resident in a country that has a tax treaty with Canada. Read More

International legal and independent professionals consulting in India often have issues receiving funds from their clients in India. India has stringent exchange control regulations contained in the Act called Foreign Exchange Management Act – FEMA. Accordingly all foreign remittances must go through certain procedures. Additionally, Income Tax Department asks for “Tax Residency Certificate” (TRC) from the US service provider so that the treaty benefits can be allowed. If TRC is not produced, the payer must withhold tax from the income remitted to US service provider. This is true regardless of where the services were provided.

Until recently, it was mandatory that TRC issued by foreign tax authority must contain all items required by the government of India in order to exempt any tax withholding Read More

A large percentage of countries that have income taxes levy withholding taxes on interest paid by residents of those countries to non-residents.

Up until fairly recently, Canada generally applied withholding tax under Part XIII of the Income Tax Act (“the Act”) on Canadian-source interest payments to non-residents. This general rule was subject to many exceptions, including one commonly used one that applied to five-year corporate debt, as well as exception for government obligations and foreign currency debt. In the absence of a lower rate being applied under a tax treaty, interest that was not eligible for an exemption was subject to 25% tax.

However, that all changed in 2008. As a general rule, Canadian-source interest payments Read More

iStock_ Africa Money and Flag XSmallReal Estate Investment Trusts or REITs is a well known internationally known appropriate business structure yet South Africa only adopted its tax law as of April 1st, 2013 and its stock exchange listed or publicly listed trading rules to accommodate REIT’s as of May 1st, 2013.

Since then many property groups not only converted to a listed REIT but also restructured their balance sheets to remove the debt linked to a unit or a share. Now, on September 6th, the first American Depositry Receipt (ADR) status was granted to a South African listed REIT. One ADR unit equals 10 REIT units on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Despite the ZA Rand being at a 3 week high, the more recent currency exchange is circa R10=1U$D.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT)

REIT’s are tax transparent or tax through flow investment vehicles that invest in and derive their income from real estate properties and mortgage, without necessarily paying tax on their trade result. To qualify for the South African REIT dispensation, a the REIT (either a company or a trust) must be tax resident in South Africa and be listed as an REIT in terms of the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) listing requirements.

REIT profits are distributed as tax deductible expenses (effectively pre-tax income) which is then received and taxed in the investors’ hands as taxable dividend income. As of 1 January 2014 the SA dividend withholding tax at 15% or the treaty governed rate where the investor is resident in a treaty country, will apply to nonresident investors. Read More

Apart from a highly skilled, English speaking workforce; membership of the E.U.; an excellent standard of living for employees seconded to Ireland; a large network of international routes and a successful track record of investment, research and development from United States corporations there are many advantages to setting up Intellectual Property Trading companies in Ireland.

The main focus of this article is the tax advantages which can be summarized under the following headings and viewed in Parts 1 through 4 on TaxConnections Worldwide Tax Blogs:

1.  Corporation Tax – Part 1
2.  Capital Allowances – Part 2
3.  Research & Development Relief – Part 3
4.  Withholding Tax – Part 4
5.  Stamp Duty and Summary – Part 4

4. WITHHOLDING TAX

In general, Irish resident companies must deduct 20% withholding tax on dividends and other profit distributions.

There are, however, a number of situations where shareholders can receive dividends free from withholding tax from an Irish resident company providing certain documentation is filed.  For example: Read More

Apart from a highly skilled, English speaking workforce; membership of the E.U.; an excellent standard of living for employees seconded to Ireland; a large network of international routes and a successful track record of investment, research and development from United States corporations there are many advantages to setting up Intellectual Property Trading companies in Ireland.

The main focus of this article is the tax advantages which can be summarized under the following headings and viewed in Parts 1 through 4 on TaxConnections Worldwide Tax Blogs:

1.  Corporation Tax – Part 1
2.  Capital Allowances – Part 2
3.  Research & Development Relief – Part 3
4.  Withholding Tax – Part 4
5.  Stamp Duty and Summary – Part 4

3. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT RELIEF

Background

The 2012 Finance Act introduced a new tax relief which allowed a company to surrender a portion of its R&D tax credit to key employees engaged in research and development activities.

This relief reduced the employee’s Income Tax (but not Universal Social Charge) on relevant emoluments providing the employee’s effective income tax rate didn’t fall below 23% in any tax year.

To be eligible for this relief: Read More

Apart from a highly skilled, English speaking workforce; membership of the E.U.; an excellent standard of living for employees seconded to Ireland; a large network of international routes and a successful track record of investment, research and development from United States corporations there are many advantages to setting up Intellectual Property Trading companies in Ireland. 

The main focus of this article is the tax advantages which can be summarized under the following headings and viewed in Parts 1 through 4 on TaxConnections Worldwide Tax Blogs:

1.  Corporation Tax – Part 1
2.  Capital Allowances – Part 2
3.  Research & Development Relief – Part 3
4.  Withholding Tax – Part 4
5.  Stamp Duty and Summary – Part 4

2. CAPITAL ALLOWANCES

Capital Allowances are available for capital expenditure on the creation, acquisition and/or licence to use certain “specified intangible assets” which includes:

1.  Copyrights
2.  Patents and registered designs
3.  Trademarks, brands, domain names and service marks Read More

Apart from a highly skilled, English speaking workforce; membership of the E.U.; an excellent standard of living for employees seconded to Ireland; a large network of international routes and a successful track record of investment, research and development from United States corporations there are many advantages to setting up Intellectual Property Trading companies in Ireland. 

The main focus of this article is the tax advantages which can be summarized under the following headings and viewed in Parts 1 through 4 on TaxConnections Worldwide Tax Blogs:

1.  Corporation Tax – Part 1
2.  Capital Allowances – Part 2
3.  Research & Development Relief – Part 3
4.  Withholding Tax – Part 4
5.  Stamp Duty and Summary – Part 4

1. CORPORATION TAX

Ireland has one of the lowest corporation tax rates on trading income in the world.  The standard rate is 12½% on trading profits.

A 25% rate is charged on non-trading and foreign source income.  It is the rate applied to “passive income.”

To be eligible for the 12½% Corporation Tax rate the following criteria must apply: Read More