AP taxes

[Anonymous]

Our LCC told the APs this year that they're not allowed to give tax advice so they can't answer any questions...

Very lazy. Ours does the same as PP...has a cluster meeting, gives them the form and explains how to fill it out. I would report that lazy LCC !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they even owe any money? Aren't they below the threshold?

2017 threshold is ~$4500. That means if you come in the year for 5 months or more, you will owe.

Our mid july arrival owed $6 this year. No big deal. Took 15 minutes to fill it out.

[Anonymous]

Our APs arrive in January so they usually have a full year which is roughly $600. We usually pay their taxes as a thank you gift.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our APs arrive in January so they usually have a full year which is roughly $600. We usually pay their taxes as a thank you gift.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Resurrecting this thread because for this taxable year, the au pairs will lose the $4500 exemption under the new tax rules, and they are not eligible (as always) for the standard deduction.

Does anyone know if an au pair can claim their program expenses (visa fees, local agency fees, au pair agency fees) as an expense against their annual income? Seems that they should be able to do this because it is a directly-related expense to the income they are receiving.

[Anonymous]

No. All tax payers lose the non-reimbursed business expense deduction that we can normally take on Schedule A. My AP started in January. She will owe roughly $1,000 in taxes in 2018. Even APs that arrive late in 2018 will owe 10% of stipend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. All tax payers lose the non-reimbursed business expense deduction that we can normally take on Schedule A. My AP started in January. She will owe roughly $1,000 in taxes in 2018. Even APs that arrive late in 2018 will owe 10% of stipend.

Is this right? Shouldn't the agencies have told them/us this? That's a huge change.

[Anonymous]

I think that’s right, unfortunately. I’m not an accountant but was reviewing the new brackets and standard deduction info and this does seem correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. All tax payers lose the non-reimbursed business expense deduction that we can normally take on Schedule A. My AP started in January. She will owe roughly $1,000 in taxes in 2018. Even APs that arrive late in 2018 will owe 10% of stipend.

Is this right? Shouldn't the agencies have told them/us this? That's a huge change.

Wow that is significant.

We always pay AP’s taxes and for tax prep. I don’t ever want someone saying a member of my household didn’t pay taxes and get Kimba Woods’d

[Anonymous]

I am a CPA. It’s correct. Trump does not favor foreign workers.

[Anonymous]

We had an AP refuse to pay taxes. She was an awful AP all around, and I consider paying taxes a matter of ethics. You're granted access to our country and expected to follow the rules. Interestingly, she also asked me what would happen if she ran up credit card bills and just skipped out on them. We ended up rematching and then found out, after she left, that she had stolen from us. So if your AP doesn't pay taxes, just be cautious that it's not part of a wider trend of theft and dishonesty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had an AP refuse to pay taxes. She was an awful AP all around, and I consider paying taxes a matter of ethics. You're granted access to our country and expected to follow the rules. Interestingly, she also asked me what would happen if she ran up credit card bills and just skipped out on them. We ended up rematching and then found out, after she left, that she had stolen from us. So if your AP doesn't pay taxes, just be cautious that it's not part of a wider trend of theft and dishonesty.

Well in their defense, this year's APs would likely not have known they'd have to pay 10 percent of their salaries in taxes for which they see almost no benefit (they don't get free health care like at home). In fact at our onboarding meeting, our LCC flat out told our AP that while she had to file taxes she wouldn't have to pay any (this was in August). I should have known but I didn't even think about it.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to bump this topic as it’s tax time!

Any recommendations on free filing software for Au pairs?

Also - do we need to provide them documentation of their income?

[Anonymous]

Wow this makes the AP program even more terrible.

[Anonymous]

How are the LLCs not responsible for educating the au pairs about the tax requirements?

This will not be affordable to most APs unless their families can pay it. Clearly the pay should be increased to account for the increased taxes.