Recommendations: Tax account/CPA with World bank/ IMF/IDF experience please

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The worldbank retains services of a large public accounting firm to handle their global mobility taxes, as far as I know. Why are you not covered by that agreement

We inquired about it and were told that was not an option. Maybe they give that option to Managers and above? Nightmare it is to deal with US taxes as a World Bank staff.
Also trying to ask fellow US citizens who work there for recommendations but there are so few of them.

fellow WB co-worker and US citizen here (and at the manager level). There are no secret benefits to managers or to H+ level staff to help file taxes. I've used Turbo Tax for years and never had a problem. You just need to keep track of the taxes you paid and the dates you remitted payment. Turbo Tax now has options for filing as an employee of an international organization so the turbo tax system files the appropriate schedule as part of your return.

When it comes to tax payments, as someone said, the Bank does not withhold so you need to make sure you are paying the 7.25% from your own pocket, and not just rely on the amount the tax office gives you as the tax allowance. It's a pain-in-the-a** system and can be incredibly frustrating for sure, but the tax software today is so much better and easier to use than it was just a few years ago.

and if you end up paying more in taxes, be sure to apply for the safety net - and to ask for an appointment with the tax office. They use certain assumptions to calculate the tax allowance but these assumptions really do not apply to all but a small % of US staff. GL

Same but I've used Block Advisors arm of H&R Block for years. I've been both IMF and WB (over 20 years) and they have always known what to do for my Schedule SE and to assist on the quarterly filings (latter shouldn't be difficult since the issued quarterly tax allowance statement basically tells you how much to pay to federal and state, including your portion).

May I ask how much does your H&B person charges? So far everyone is quoting us < $1000-1500. We both hate taxes so outsourcing it seem to be a good option to avoid arguments

We pay around $1500 but we also have multiple K1s, properties and have to file in other states too.

Thank you, that seems like the typical price range. Are you comfortable sharing your tax person's name so I can contact him/her? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The worldbank retains services of a large public accounting firm to handle their global mobility taxes, as far as I know. Why are you not covered by that agreement

We inquired about it and were told that was not an option. Maybe they give that option to Managers and above? Nightmare it is to deal with US taxes as a World Bank staff.
Also trying to ask fellow US citizens who work there for recommendations but there are so few of them.

fellow WB co-worker and US citizen here (and at the manager level). There are no secret benefits to managers or to H+ level staff to help file taxes. I've used Turbo Tax for years and never had a problem. You just need to keep track of the taxes you paid and the dates you remitted payment. Turbo Tax now has options for filing as an employee of an international organization so the turbo tax system files the appropriate schedule as part of your return.

When it comes to tax payments, as someone said, the Bank does not withhold so you need to make sure you are paying the 7.25% from your own pocket, and not just rely on the amount the tax office gives you as the tax allowance. It's a pain-in-the-a** system and can be incredibly frustrating for sure, but the tax software today is so much better and easier to use than it was just a few years ago.

and if you end up paying more in taxes, be sure to apply for the safety net - and to ask for an appointment with the tax office. They use certain assumptions to calculate the tax allowance but these assumptions really do not apply to all but a small % of US staff. GL

Thank you so much for confirming my benefit query. The issue is we recently returned from our international assignment and while away we didn't file DC taxes, the account from the WB CPA list told us we don't need to file DC taxes, and nor did WB gave us DC taxes when were away. The CPA who did our taxes last year (the New one) said that is wrong and we received a notice to pay DC back taxes which now my partner is working to sort with WB HR. From 2020 taxes the CPA seems to have messed up and we received another notice from IRS asking us to pay an extra $6K. Totally lost on where things are going wrong. Both years we use different CPAs and both of them went MIA after filling out taxes. My spouse in Wb staff. Don't you have to fill some form 70 and give it to HR for tax withholding? I think he might not know how to do it?? Does WB have any support for US staff on tax question?

Sick of CPAs bailing on us.

If I were in this situation I would just suck it up and go to Dale Mason or the Wolf Group.

Yes, definitely want an expert. I wrote to a few and will see how it goes! Thanks much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One other thing to add: the Bank provides regular (annual) tax seminars featuring HR and external experts like Dale Mason. These are worth attending. You may also be able to find a video of the seminars on the intranet.

For most situations those plus turbotax are fine. But it sounds like you may have a very complex situation.

Thank you! Will look into it.