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AK1973
Jun 24, 2011, 03:38 PM
Please review my case from US tax viewpoint as below to guide me accordingly :
I am from India and came to USA in Jan. 2005 on H1b to work on a project here as salaried employee of an I.T. Consulting company having its offices in USA and India both and since 2005 , I am working in US with a few vacation trips to India till now .
I have been continuously filing my US Income tax returns (based on yearly W2 Form received from employer) from the year 2005 and thus have filed total 6 returns till now i.e. from 2005 to 2010 . I have no other income or investments in USA .
In 2005 itself , I opened my NRE/NRO Bank Accounts in India for the transfer of a part of my US tax paid salary to India to pay off my home loan which I had borrowed in India in 2002 when I was working there . So I used to transfer around $2500 on an average almost every month since 2005 till now . I fully repaid this home loan in 2007 and have been getting around Rs. 8000 monthly rent from this home directly deposited to my NRO account in India . In 2008 , I bought another home on home financing loan in India and this property is still under construction by the builder company and I have been regulary paying a big amount of around Rs. 52,000 as monthly interest on the this home loan from my NRE Bank account in India since 2008 till now and this property completion is expected in 2013 .
In my US Tax returns , I never showed my NRE/NRO Bank Accounts , my indian home loans and the home property bought unknowingly and considering that I will need to show once I will get Green Card . So now this month I got my Green Card and also came to know through some of my friend that even when I was working on H1b , I should have shown these in US Tax returns filed so far .
At this point , I am confused and need your suggestion what to do further... thanks

AtlantaTaxExpert
Jun 29, 2011, 08:15 AM
Okay, yours is a multi-faceted problem.

First, if the balance on your foreign bank accounts EVER exceed $10,000 in aggregate, you became obligated to file the FBAR using Form TD-F 90-22.1. That is an annual requirement.

The mortgage interest on your first mortgage loan was deductible, but it is likely the total annual interest did NOT exceed the standard deduction you were claiming on your tax return, especially if you were filing jointly with your spouse.

Any interest earned in the bank accounts that exceeded $10 should have been reported on your U.S. tax returns. If, however, the annual interest did NOT exceed $100, amending your returns to report that interest is NOT required, because the extra $100 in taxable income is so small that the IRS considers it to be a de minimus (too small to be considered) amount.

The rental property MUST be reported on your tax return using Schedule E. That has to added via the amendment process regardless of the amount of rent received.

If you need professional help amending your returns, email me at [email protected]. This IS what I do!

Nadel
Jul 6, 2011, 11:03 AM
If your foreign bank account balance did not cross $10K at any time, then its not a problem and you can amend returns.

If it did for multiple years, then you have FBAR violations, which is potentially a serious problem.