India/US tax preparation - DIY or use a Professional agency

[mego2i]

Hello everyone,

sorry for the long post.

so we are soon coming up on 5 years of R2I. Until this year, we were getting tax-help from my spouse's company, but that will go away from next year (due to job change). The MNC firm doing the taxes took a very minimalistic view of things...for e.g they never advised us on things like how to make best use of RNOR status. To be fair, we also never asked (and probably basic prep/file was all that the company was paying for), the first couple of years went by in a blur of settling in, some family emergencies, buying house etc etc. I always felt I was doing quite a bit of the work - collecting all documents, uploading, reviewing, re-reviewing etc. They would also send us copious amounts of documents (nearly 200 pages for US tax returns!) , very difficult to decipher everything.

our tax situation is quite simple (I think) - salary in India, some dividends and interest income from US, some IRA and 401Ks. No US real estate. No rental or other income in India. However, over the next couple of years, there are some situations/questions that I will have. eg.

1. can i use the carryover tax credit in US taxes to sell stocks in US without paying any taxes
2. Best way to handle sale of a property jointly in spouse and FIL (he is Indian citizen, we are USC, property purchased maybe 10-12 years ago, so substantial appreciation)
3. How to handle inheritance from parents (.e.g FIL leaving us the amount in #2 above)
4. how to calculate the amounts for US vs india returns (due to different financial year)
5. best options for USCs to invest in India
6. bringing more money over from US, good idea or not etc etc

In the US, I always did our taxes, so the past few years have been somewhat uncomfortable because of not knowing what is going on. Again, to be fair, I didn't try to dive too deep, since the company was taking care of it. I tried reaching out some some of the tax firms listed here, and suggesting by co-workers, but everyone wants to do a 'long term relationship' with us...I just wanted advice. Rates are between USD250-USD400 for US taxes, and about Rs. 10000/- for India taxes. Seems a bit high given our scenario

OK, so my question: Should i force myself to learn how to do our IN/US taxes, or is it worth spending the money for longterm relationship. I understand the benefits of the latter approach, just that its too much to spend, and more importantly, I'm not comfortable sharing all my financial details. Or are there recommendations for who can just consult (for a fee, of course). Do tax laws change often enough here in India that I will not be able to keep up?

Thanks!

[VS007]

I use usindiatax!
For first year they are useful, but you are right that typical tax preparers are glorified data entry operators and it becomes incumbent upon you do the fact check the numbers, missing zeros, or missing entries.
Besides most of these firms have CAs, CPA who are knowledgeable about their country laws, but poorly educated about the dual taxation.
And if you want to engage dual taxation exemptions, you need to pay more for their fees. Its worthwhile for big transactions like house sale etc, I skip those for bank interests.
I am still continuing because of lethargy. If I find a good software, then I will migrate...

[Desi]

Rajesh Dhruva's firm is knowledgeable about US laws and they keep up to date with US laws, DTAA, and of course Indian laws.