Hi all. US citizen here. I previously asked on this subreddit about how to properly pay capital gains taxes in Japan. The responses were very helpful. I went to the tax office and paid for a few previous years of dividends, as well as some capital gains in 2021 that Vanguard had caused for holders of their Target-Date Retirement Fund.
I also paid this year’s (2023) taxes on my capital gains / dividends. Additionally I figured out how to track my cost basis correctly moving forward. The people at the tax office were very helpful in answering questions and helping me to amend my previous years’ tax forms, as well as how to complete this year’s. So, everything is set with Japan now.
Now I’m wondering how this ties into my US taxes. I work for a Japanese company and my income is not especially high. In previous years I filed my US taxes using the FEIE via TurboTax. I always submitted my tax forms from Vanguard and never owed any sort of taxes. Last year I switched to using someone to prepare my US taxes for me and will continue to do so going forward. The reason for this is because I wanted to switch from filing under the FEIE to the FTC in order to be eligible for the US Child Tax Credit. Filing using the FTC by myself is far too complicated, so the tax preparation service is worth the slight added cost.
**Question 1**: Since I paid some previous years’ dividend/capital gain taxes in Japan, do I need to do anything related to my US taxes to account for these amendments? Or do I just leave it alone?
**Question 2**: I’ve paid my 2023 capital gains/dividends taxes to Japan. How does this work with upcoming US taxes that I need to pay for 2023 in order to not be double taxed? Will I just not owe US capital gains taxes because I’ve already paid them in Japan? Or will I have to pay them to the US and then ask for a refund from Japan for the difference? How exactly does this work or what is the process?
Thank you very much again for any advice, this sub is incredibly helpful!
by redfinadvice