When you have to go toe-to-toe with the IRS, make sure you keep the fight clean. The only way to succeed when arguing your case with an auditor is to follow the IRS’s own procedures. And, the primary way to do that is—you guessed it—keeping proper documentation. With this article, you’ll better understand where tax authority is derived, what rules the IRS must stick to, and what rules the IRS accepts.
When Your Client’s World Is Bigger Than the U.S.
Manasa Nadig, EA
A lot of client meetings still start with the same assumptions: W-2 in a U.S. state, mortgage nearby, a 401(k), maybe some RSUs, and a college-savings plan. Yet many of those “simple” clients now own an apartment in another country, freelance for a foreign company, or have parents wiring money from overseas. The tax code does not see those details as background color; it treats them as organizing facts. This is where citizenship, residency, and domicile quietly step onto center stage. For planners, the challenge is not memorizing every cross-border rule. It is knowing when a client is no longer “just domestic” and shifting your planning framework before you stumble into penalties, double taxation, or blown opportunities.
