Personal services
ITIN applications and foreign income reporting
ITIN applications, foreign bank account reporting, foreign income and the treaty positions that go with them — for a neighborhood where a great many families file with a connection to somewhere else.
✓ ITIN applications and renewals✓ FBAR and Form 8938✓ Seven languages in the office
Woodside is one of the most internationally connected neighborhoods in the United States. A large share of the returns prepared in this office involve a spouse or a child abroad, income earned overseas, a bank account left open in another country, property inherited in another country, or somebody who needs a taxpayer identification number in order to file at all.
None of this is exotic to us, and none of it is a reason to be nervous. What matters is doing it correctly and on time — the penalties in this area are among the harshest in the tax code and they attach to information returns that carry no tax at all.
ITIN applications
An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number lets somebody who is not eligible for a Social Security number file a return, be claimed as a dependent, or be included on a joint return.
Form W-7 preparation
Filed with the tax return it supports, which is what the IRS requires in almost every case.
Certifying Acceptance Agent work
So original passports do not have to be mailed to the IRS and risk being away for months.
Renewals
ITINs expire when unused for three consecutive years, and a return filed with an expired one is processed without the credits.
Dependents and spouses
Including the specific documentation the IRS demands for a child, which is where these applications are most often rejected.
Foreign income and account reporting
These are information returns. Most carry no tax. The penalties for not filing them are nonetheless severe, which is why they deserve attention.
FBAR — FinCEN Form 114
Required if foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 combined at any point in the year. Aggregate, not per account, and the threshold catches far more people than expect it.
Form 8938 — FATCA
A separate filing with different thresholds, filed with the return. Filing one does not satisfy the other.
Foreign earned income exclusion
Form 2555, for income earned while living abroad.
Foreign tax credit
Form 1116, so income taxed in another country is not taxed twice.
Treaty positions
The United States has treaties with most countries our clients have ties to, and a treaty position taken correctly can change the outcome substantially.
Foreign gifts and inheritances
Form 3520 for large gifts or bequests from abroad. No tax, ruinous penalties for not filing.
Streamlined filing procedures
For taxpayers who did not know they had to file — a route to compliance without the full penalty regime, where the failure was genuinely non-wilful.
Fees
| ITIN application — Form W-7 Per applicant, filed with the return |
$175 |
| ITIN renewal Per applicant |
$125 |
| FBAR — FinCEN 114 Up to five accounts |
$195 |
| Form 8938 — FATCA Filed with the return |
$225 |
| Foreign earned income exclusion Form 2555 |
$275 |
| Foreign tax credit Form 1116 |
$195 |
| Form 3520 — foreign gift or inheritance Per year |
from $650 |
| Streamlined filing compliance Three years of returns, six FBARs, certification |
from $2,800 |
General information, current for the 2026 filing season and not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Tax law changes, and the answer for your situation may differ. Speak to us before acting on anything you read here.
Questions
ITIN & Foreign Income — the questions we are asked most
Can I file a tax return without a Social Security number?
Yes, with an ITIN. We prepare the Form W-7 alongside your return, and as a Certifying Acceptance Agent we can verify your passport in the office so it does not have to be mailed to the IRS.
Do I have to report a bank account I still have back home?
If the combined high balance of all your foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year, yes — an FBAR is required even if the accounts earned nothing. It is an information return with no tax attached, and the penalties for skipping it are severe.
I have lived here for years and never reported my overseas account. What now?
There is a path for this. The streamlined filing compliance procedures exist for exactly this situation where the failure was not wilful, and they resolve it with a limited look-back and much reduced penalties. Coming forward before the IRS makes contact is what preserves that option.
Can I claim my parents abroad as dependents?
Sometimes. The support and residency tests are demanding, and citizenship or residency of the dependent matters. It is worth asking about rather than assuming either way.
What languages do you work in?
English, Spanish, Tagalog, Nepali, Bengali, Korean and Mandarin across the office. We would rather you explain your situation in the language you think in.
Related
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Planning done in the autumn, when it can still change the outcome — rather than in April, when it can only be reported.
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IRS Representation
Audits, notices, back taxes, liens and payment plans — we deal with the IRS and New York State so that you do not have to.
The first conversation is free
Talk to a CPA before you decide anything
Twenty minutes on the phone or across a desk on Roosevelt Avenue. Bring last year's return if you have one — most of what we need in order to quote you is already in it.