Sometimes. An IRS Chief Counsel memo allowed a theft loss deduction for compromised-account, pig butchering and phishing scams, because the money was tied to a transaction entered into for profit. It disallowed romance and kidnapping scams as personal casualty losses….
Tax-free in India does not mean tax-free on a US return. A US resident is taxed on PPF interest as it is credited. The EPF and the EPS are contested, with no IRS ruling, so document your position. The FBAR…
If you are a US citizen, green card holder or US tax resident, your NRE and NRO accounts are foreign accounts for US purposes. Report the interest on your Form 1040, file an FBAR when their combined peak balances exceed…
A rental abroad goes on Schedule E like any other rental, with three differences. The building is depreciated over 30 years under the alternative depreciation system, not 27.5. Every figure must be translated into dollars. And the property itself is…
For most married couples, filing jointly costs less, because filing separately shuts off the education credits and the student loan interest deduction and shrinks Roth IRA room. Filing separately can win in narrow cases: large medical bills on a lower…
The streamlined filing compliance procedures let a taxpayer whose failure to report foreign accounts was non-willful file three years of returns and six years of FBARs. If you meet the non-residency test the miscellaneous offshore penalty is nothing; if you…
The extended tax deadline of October 15, 2026 only moves the date to file your 2025 return. Tax owed was still due April 15, so interest, compounded daily at 6% and then 7%, and the 0.5% monthly late-payment penalty have…
A short-term rental averages seven days or less per guest stay, which takes it outside the passive rental rules. If you also materially participate, its loss may offset wages. A long-term rental is passive by default: losses generally offset only…
A foreign mutual fund is almost always a PFIC — 75% or more of its gross income is passive, or 50% or more of its assets are. Without a QEF or mark-to-market election, gain is taxed as ordinary income at…
Trader tax status is a facts-and-circumstances test: you must seek daily trading profits, substantially and with continuity. It moves your trading expenses to Schedule C. It does not lift the $3,000 capital loss cap or the wash sale rule —…
