Recently went through this with my accountant. I refused the outsourcing and found a smaller firm that doesn't outsource. If you're paying premium rates for a CPA, you should get their direct attention imo. The big firms are just getting greedy.

This is such a timely discussion - I'm actually dealing with something similar right now. My CPA of 5 years just informed me they're outsourcing to a firm in another state, and I'm really torn about it. What's particularly frustrating is that they're not offering any reduction in fees despite essentially becoming a middleman in the process. I've built a relationship with them specifically because I wanted that personal touch and local expertise, especially for my small business taxes. I'm curious - for those who switched to firms that don't outsource, did you notice any difference in the quality of service or turnaround times? I'm worried about starting over with a new CPA this close to tax season, but I also don't want to feel like I'm just another file being shuffled around. The transparency issue mentioned here is huge too. My CPA was pretty vague about the details when I pressed them about security protocols and who exactly would be handling my information.

I'm in exactly the same boat but with accounts in Germany. According to my research, if you file the FBAR before they contact you about it, you should be fine without penalties. I just did mine last week (about 2 months after filing taxes) and included a brief statement explaining that I didn't know about the requirement as a first-time expat.

Don't panic! You're definitely not alone in this situation. The FBAR requirement catches a lot of Americans living abroad off guard, especially digital nomads who are dealing with tax obligations for the first time. The good news is that $13,000 isn't a huge amount over the $10,000 threshold, and since you're proactively trying to fix this before being contacted, you're in a much better position than someone who gets caught later. The IRS generally recognizes that many people genuinely don't know about FBAR requirements, especially first-time expats. I'd recommend filing the delinquent FBAR as soon as possible through the BSA E-Filing System on FinCEN's website. Make sure to include a clear explanation that you weren't aware of the requirement as a new expat. Keep it simple and honest - something like "As a first-time digital nomad, I was unaware of the FBAR filing requirement and am submitting this form as soon as I learned of the obligation." The key is acting quickly and voluntarily. Most people in your exact situation who file proactively don't face penalties, especially for non-willful violations where the amounts aren't massive. You've got this!

Remember that if you're shutting down the business entirely, you'll need to file a final return. Make sure to check the box indicating it's a final return and include a statement explaining the closure. Don't forget to cancel any business licenses, permits, and close business accounts properly too. I learned the hard way that loose ends with a business closure can come back to haunt you years later!

One thing to consider that hasn't been mentioned yet - if you're selling the equipment to your brother (the former partner), this could actually be viewed more favorably by the IRS than selling to other family members. Since he was an original co-owner of the equipment through the partnership, there's already an established business relationship and legitimate reason for the transaction. Just make sure you have documentation from when he left the partnership showing how the assets were divided. If the partnership agreement or dissolution documents don't clearly address the equipment, you might want to create a written agreement now that references the original purchase and his departure from the business. Also, regarding the gain recognition - yes, you'll need to report it on Form 4797 as others mentioned, but the good news is that since this was Section 179 property, the recapture will be taxed as ordinary income (not capital gains), which actually keeps the reporting simpler even though the rate might be higher.

Has anyone actually had their taxes rejected because of Form 8332 issues? Our decree says we alternate claiming our daughter each year, and we've been doing that for 2 years without any forms. I claim odd years, he claims even years. No issues so far, but now I'm nervous after reading this thread!

I went through this exact situation last year and wanted to share what I learned. The key thing to understand is that your divorce decree and IRS rules are completely separate systems that don't automatically talk to each other. Even though your decree says you each claim one child, the IRS has their own "tiebreaker" rules for determining the custodial parent when custody is truly 50/50. Since you mentioned equal physical custody, they'll look at who has higher adjusted gross income to determine who gets the right to claim the children. Here's what I'd recommend: First, carefully count the actual overnight stays for each child to make sure you really do have exactly 50/50 custody. Sometimes what we think is "equal" isn't when you count every single night. Second, if it truly is 50/50 and your ex has higher income, he technically has the right under IRS rules to claim both children unless he signs Form 8332 releasing his claim to one child. Your ex is wrong about not needing any forms - the IRS doesn't care what your divorce decree says if their rules determine a different custodial parent. Don't risk it. I'd suggest getting professional help to review your specific situation, because getting this wrong can result in rejected returns, penalties, and having to pay back tax credits with interest.

As someone who recently went through this exact process with my small tech consulting business in Amsterdam (also a V.O.F.), I completely understand your frustration! The W-8BEN-E is genuinely one of the most confusing tax forms out there. Here's what I learned that might help: For a Dutch V.O.F., you're essentially dealing with a pass-through entity similar to a US partnership. The key sections you need are Part I (basic info), Part III (treaty benefits), and Part XXIX (signature). For Part I line 5, definitely select "Partnership" since that's how the IRS views a V.O.F. For the TIN fields - you can leave the US TIN blank since you don't need one for basic consulting. For foreign TIN, use your KVK number including any leading zeros. Skip GIIN entirely unless you're somehow a financial institution (which you're not). The treaty benefits section (Part III) is where you'll claim Article 7 from the US-Netherlands tax treaty at 0% withholding rate, assuming you're just providing remote consulting services with no permanent establishment in the US. One thing that really helped me was printing out the form and physically crossing out all the sections that don't apply - it made the relevant parts much clearer. You're basically filling out maybe 15% of the actual form. The whole process took me about 2 hours once I figured out what applied to us, and our US client accepted it without any issues. Feel free to ask if you have specific questions about any of the sections!

I went through this exact same process with my small consulting business in Belgium last year, and I totally feel your pain with the W-8BEN-E! It's honestly one of the most intimidating forms I've ever encountered. What really helped me was breaking it down into just the essentials for a simple EU consulting business like yours. For your Dutch V.O.F., you're looking at completing maybe 4-5 sections total out of the entire form. The key is understanding that most of those complex sections are for financial institutions, large corporations, or entities with complicated ownership structures - none of which apply to a small 3-person consulting firm. Here's what made it click for me: think of the form as the IRS trying to cover every possible type of foreign entity in one massive document, but your V.O.F. is actually a pretty straightforward case. You're a transparent partnership providing services remotely - that's about as simple as it gets from a US tax perspective. One thing I wish someone had told me upfront: don't try to understand every section of the form. Focus only on Parts I, III, and XXIX, and you'll have everything you need. The rest is just noise for your situation. Once I adopted that mindset, what seemed like an impossible task became totally manageable. Your US client will be familiar with receiving these forms from foreign consultants, so they'll know exactly what to do with it once you submit it. You're definitely not the first Dutch V.O.F. they've worked with!