Do you run your own company? In today’s market, chances are that you are in need of an international tax consultant.
Today’s business model looks a bit different than it did twenty—or even fifteen-years ago. Now, for businesses to remain competitive, they need to be operating on an international scale. That means your company needs to sell, export, import, etc. internationally. It may have offshoot branches over the border, or it may have incorporated a smaller company in a different country to diversify and expand your market. You may have international employees, and you may have to travel internationally for business meetings, conferences, and the like. All of this adds complication enough to your organization of the business—but it also adds complexity to an already-complicated process: taxes. That’s why an international tax consultant is such an important part of any successful business.
Why do you need an international tax consultant?
Because taxes are anything but straightforward. There are varying levels of taxation, and each of those levels has its own set of regulations. This is enough to wrap your head around for your native local, but to add even more complexity into the equation, these levels of taxations and the regulations and legalities that affect them also vary based on region. Within the US, you can have different tax laws to comply with based on which states you do business in. Amplify that by the number of different countries your business’s finances are tied to—each of those can have multiple sets of varying tax laws and regulations, too. Then, on top of all of that, you also have to remember that you will have additional tax assessments to perform within the US because you have international investments. An international tax consultant can help you with the whirlwind.
What areas of taxation can an international tax consultant help you with?
Let’s break it down. Within the US, there are separate federal, state, and local governments, and each of those levels has its own taxation that is/can be imposed on individuals and businesses. Those different levels of taxation can be imposed upon income, payroll, property, sales, capital gains, dividends, imports, estates and gifts, and even on various fees you may be required to pay. Those are already a lot of variables to consider—how many impact your personal or business taxation, to what extent, and what exceptions apply to you? If that isn’t enough to confuse you, now it’s time to add international taxation into the mix. The US is one of two countries, worldwide, that taxes non-resident citizens on worldwide income. That means, if you are a US citizen, and you have emigrated to a different country to run a share of your company there, you are still accountable for US taxes—on top of the taxation that applies to the international status of the business itself, if you are also a co-owner. How does income tax vary on payroll when you have non-resident citizens working as employees across the border? What about for temporary citizens who are working in the US for you? How does your property tax allocation vary between your US and non-US properties, and if they are all owned by the same US company, how does that impact your overall taxation? What about international versus national sales taxes? What about customs and tariffs? The list of complexities goes on and on, but the fact of the matter is that an international tax consultant can hep you keep all of the various tax laws and regulations that you are accountable to straight so you don’t inadvertently land yourself with non-compliance penalties or fines.
The non-compliance nightmare
Non-compliance with tax laws—no matter how complex and confusing those various laws may be—is nothing to muck about with. You could face heavy fines, penalties, and even jail time for failing to comply with US and international tax law—and that isn’t a reputation you want to have when your entire business’s image is on the line. Whether you are dealing with inbound transactions, outbound transactions, payroll, or other areas where tax compliance gets difficult solely because of the complexity of calculating all of the laws and regulations you are accountable to, an international tax consultant can help clear up the murkiness of those international taxation waters. Don’t wait until your business is in trouble to make the call. Contact a reputable, experienced, professional international tax consultant to get started sorting out all of the tax regulations your company needs to comply with.
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