Table of contents:
Logistics
Past filings
Providing your previous year’s tax returns can help us determine your current filing obligations and may improve your overall tax position if you filed in the last three years.
If TFX prepared your returns: There’s no need to upload anything — we already have access to your prior federal and state returns in the Documents section of your TFX account.
If your returns were prepared elsewhere: Please upload copies of your most recently filed federal and state tax returns. If you don’t have a copy of your returns, you can request a transcript from the IRS portal.
If you haven’t filed in the last three years: You don’t need to upload anything.
Notes:
If you filed a joint U.S. return with your spouse, this counts as your personal return, even if you had no income yourself.
In the Past filings section of the questionnaire, please enter the tax year, not the filing date. For example, if your 2021 return was filed in 2024, you should enter "2021".
Moreover, we need to know whether the IRS contacted or audited you in the past three years. If you received IRS letters related to past tax returns, please upload a scan or photocopy of those letters. These help us understand your current standing with the IRS and any additional filing requirements. For example, if you are being audited, the IRS will send a formal letter by mail outlining the reason for the audit, which years are being examined, and any documentation you must provide.
You do not need to upload IRS letters that are unrelated to unfiled or incorrectly filed tax returns, for example, if you were contacted about potential identity theft. If you filed your returns and haven’t heard back from the IRS, that typically means everything is in order.
Refund
If you're eligible for a refund, the IRS needs to know how you’d like to receive it. In your tax questionnaire, please choose one of the following options for receiving your tax refund:
Direct deposit to a U.S. bank account: 100% of your refund will be electronically deposited into the U.S. bank account you provide (routing and account number required). This is the fastest and most secure option and is preferred by most taxpayers.
⚠ Notes:
The IRS requires that refunds by direct deposit go to a U.S. bank account in your own name, your spouse’s name, or a joint account in both your names. You cannot request the refund to be deposited into someone else’s account (like your father’s, sister's, etc.) if your name is not on that account. The only way is to be listed as a joint account holder on that account. Otherwise, the IRS will reject or misdirect the deposit. This rule exists to prevent fraud and misdirected refunds.
The IRS cannot send refunds to non-U.S. bank accounts. If you don’t have a U.S. bank account, open one with an online banking provider such as Wise, Revolut, or other financial services that provide U.S. bank details. If it's not possible, you may choose to apply your refund to next year’s estimated taxes instead of receiving the funds immediately.
Apply to estimated payments: Instead of receiving the refund, you can apply your refund to next year’s estimated taxes instead of receiving the funds immediately. You generally should avoid this if you expect not to owe taxes next year, as it delays the refund by a year. If you select this option, you may split the refund between applying it forward and direct deposit. Example: 50% carryover, 50% refund, OR if your refund is $1,000 and you expect to owe $800 next year, you can apply $800 (80%) to next year’s tax liability and receive the remaining $200 now.
❗ Important note on paper checks: The option “Check Mailed to You” is no longer available, as the IRS is phasing out paper check tax refunds starting September 30, 2025. After this date, the IRS will issue refunds only through:
Direct deposit to a U.S. bank account, or
Application to next year’s estimated tax payments.
Identity Protection PIN (if applicable)
An Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) is a 6-digit number assigned by the IRS to help prevent unauthorized use of your Social Security Number. It is typically issued to victims of identity theft or those enrolled in the IRS IP PIN program. If the IRS has issued you an IP PIN, you must provide it so we can e-file your return.
US visits
Please provide details of all visits to the United States during the tax year, regardless of whether the travel was for business or personal reasons. This includes trips made by both the primary taxpayer and their spouse, if filing jointly.
For U.S. tax purposes, the term "United States" includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Antarctic region.
We collect information about your U.S. travel history to:
Demonstrate to the IRS that you are an expat who spends most of the year outside the United States.
Determine your eligibility for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), which allows for the first $100k of salary to be tax-free.
Assess potential state tax filing requirements.
Support a possible treaty-based position disclosure, if applicable.
Even if you don’t plan to use the Bona Fide Residence Test or Substantial Presence Test, we still need this information.
What to report
For each U.S. trip, provide:
The non-U.S. country of departure (not layovers — enter the country where your trip originated).
U.S. entry and exit dates.
The number of business days. If both personal and business activities occurred on the same day, count it as a business day. Any income earned during the business days in the U.S. must be reported separately.
The U.S. state you visited. If you visited multiple states during one business trip, please report them all on separate rows. Example: If you flew from Germany to the U.S. on Jan 1-10 and visited California, Nevada, and Texas:
Row 1: Your name → Germany → Jan 1 → Jan 10 → Number of business days spent in the U.S. state → Your employer → California
Row 2: Your name → Germany → Jan 1 → Jan 10 → Number of business days spent in the U.S. state → Your employer → Nevada
Row 3: Your name → Germany → Jan 1 → Jan 10 → Number of business days spent in the U.S. state → Your employer → Texas
⚠ Note: If any of these visits were not on business, then we don't require you to report U.S. states you visited during the trip.
If you spent more than 31 days in the U.S. during the tax year, it is recommended to include all U.S. visits for the prior and following year, if available — this helps us evaluate FEIE eligibility over rolling 12-month periods.
❗ Important notes:
Keep an accurate travel calendar for all your U.S. visits, whether for business or personal reasons.
Even a few hours in the U.S. during a layover count as a day spent in the country.
When reporting trips to the U.S., as the "Non-US Country", enter the country you departed from to reach the U.S. (i.e., your starting point where your journey originated from, not the layover location).
If traveling with dependents, only list the U.S. visits of individuals included on your tax return (taxpayer and spouse). Children or relatives not on the return do not need to be listed.
Were any of these visits on business?
The IRS and state authorities require U.S.-source income to be reported. That includes even short business trips. A "business day" is broadly defined — if you did the same work in the U.S. that you normally perform abroad (e.g., meetings, emails, client calls), it likely counts. However, if you were in the United States attending a convention or conference, those days are not considered business days.
If any of your U.S. days were work days, please:
Indicate how many.
If you know the exact amount earned while in the U.S., please enter it in the comment field.
If not, we will prorate your annual salary over 240 working days to calculate income earned during your time in the U.S. (You don’t need to make this calculation yourself).
Working even one day in a U.S. state may trigger a state filing requirement, depending on the state’s rules. Example: If your total global wages are $60,000 and you earn $1 while in California, you must file a California nonresident return — even for that single day — because you earned CA-source income and exceeded the filing threshold.
Each state has its own rules. For example:
Strict: New York, California
Lenient: Illinois (no filing required unless you worked 30+ days)
If you don’t want to file a state return with TFX, you may choose to enter zero business days to avoid triggering a state filing. We are here to inform, not obligate — we will prepare only the returns you engage us to file.