A Little Less Blog and a Little More Action

As a non-resident citizen, my tax filing date is 2 months later than a resident US citizen. So, being the procrastinator that I am, this is what is taxing (mmm, sorry) my brain just now, so my blog posts have slowed a bit.

In a tax year you choose to claim the foreign tax credit, the overall domestic loss is the domestic loss for that tax year to the extent it offsets foreign source taxable income for that tax year or for any preceding tax year (in which you chose to claim the foreign tax credit) because of a carryback. If you do not choose to claim the foreign tax credit for a tax year, the overall domestic loss is the domestic loss for that tax year to the extent it offsets foreign source taxable income for any preceding tax year (in which you chose to claim the foreign tax credit) because of a carryback.

Huh?

Some paragraphs I can understand if I read them slowly 3 or 4 times, others just continue wafting around over my head. And if reading the Instruction Forms are fun, the tax treaty of 2001 and its technical explanation are even better.

Yesterday the weather was glorious, half of it anyhow – the maximum allowable allocation of good weather here, and I spent a couple of hours putting more seeds in the garden. But now I'm back at the grindstone.

I am really looking forward to completing these tax returns (US, Oklahoma, Utah); it’s always such a relief to be done. I am promising myself that I will start reading these instructions earlier or find some textbooks or something so it’s not so daunting again next year, especially if I find myself making a different kind of investment; they always require a new form and 3 sets of instructions. When I’m next in the US I shall look for some books for dummies or idiots as well. Maybe then I'll understand it the first time I read it...