Why you need the Form 8621 Calculator in addition to your Tax Preparation Software?
None of the tax preparation software packages have full Form 8621 functionality.
Most are limited to calculating the additional interest and taxes for 1291 funds, and transfer the income to the tax return based on the entries made in the tax software.
You still must do the base calculations to know what to enter into your software, and you still must maintain:
- Separate calculations of basis,
- Unreversed income inclusions,
- Line 15b adjusted annual distributions
- Other pieces of the PFIC regime.
Your Tax Software does not calculate…
- The special OVDP alternate mark to market taxation,
- Apply the becoming a US person rules,
- Allowable foreign tax credits
- Expatriation dispositions.
Form 8621 Calculator does all of this!
Here is why you need to use the Form 8621 Calculator
- We track all the moving pieces that your tax software does not…
- Cost basis per share,
- Unreversed inclusions per share,
- Holding period,
- Adjusted annual distribution amounts,
- Pre & Post PFIC income inclusions
- Character of income
- Calculates and re-allocates the excess distribution amount
- Automatically purges the taint when an election is made
- And more that we haven’t listed
- We also apply currency conversions for 150+ foreign currencies using the daily rate for each transaction.
- We provide calculation details for your files.
- We tell you where all the numbers go on the tax return as a crosscheck
- We provide all statements required by the IRS to support the calculated amounts on Form 8621 which can be attached as a PDF to most tax software programs.
- You can say goodbye to your spreadsheets.
If your software is Prosystem fx, Global fx, or Axcess Tax our calculator also provides you with…
- a completed form 8621 return and statements,
- importable excel sheets where they are allowed,
- the entries needed by your software based on the PFIC’s transaction history.
What can I do on the demo application?
If I buy an annual license or a cloud subscription, how many forms can I create?
Does the software automatically determine whether actual cost basis or average cost basis provides the better result?
What elections are available in the program?
- Section 1291 (default taxation)
- Election A: Election To Treat the PFIC as a QEF (beta)
- Election C: Election To Mark-to-Market PFIC Stock
- Election D: Deemed Sale Election (beta)
- Section 1296 (Mark-to-Market taxation)
- Pedigreed and Unpedigreed QEF calculations
- Becoming a US person Transitional Rule Application
- Expatriation
- Alternate calculation under the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP)
In development:
- Election E: Deemed Dividend Election.
Is the Form 8621 Calculator secure? What about the privacy of my client?
I see I can purchase an annual server licence for $2200 USD/ $2500 CAD (large server $4400 USD/ $5000 CAD) or a cloud subscription for $850 USD/ $1,100 CAD - what's the difference?
Cloud Solution | Small Server | Large Server | |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative Rights | Limited to user administration | Full | Full |
Password Reset option | Enabled | Optional | Optional |
Location of financial data | Cloud server | Client computer | Client computer |
Location of sensitive client data | n/a client sensitive data is not collected |
Client computer The data can be limited by the System Administrator |
Client computer The data can be limited by the System Administrator |
Collecting and storing client name and SSN | Clients identified by ID only* | Optional | Optional |
Collecting and storing client address | Disabled | Optional | Optional |
Collecting and storing client bank account numbers | Limited to last 4 digits | No limitations | No limitations |
Address of financial institution on Form 8621 | Disabled | Optional | Optional |
Search client list | Optional | Optional | Optional |
Print Client ID on reports | Enabled | Optional | Optional |
Custom company code in Reference Numbers | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled |
Keeping copy of PDF forms on server | PDFs are generated on request, not saved to server | Optional | Optional |
System back-up | Daily | Manual | Manual |
Maintenance Updates | By Expat Tax Tools | Updates installed by client | Updates installed by client |
*Client ID is an alphanumeric identifier set by the User
How do I access the software once I purchase a server licence or cloud subscription?
What are the minimum hardware requirements to run the program?
If you wish to host your own server, see table below for minimum requirements for the server computer.
Small Server | Large Server | |
---|---|---|
Installation* | By client | By client |
Minimum Recommended Memory | 8GB | 16GB |
Minimum Hard Drive | 50GB | 50GB |
Hard Drive Type | SSD drives recommended | SSD drives recommended |
CPU | Core i7 is recommended | Core i7 is recommended |
Operating System | Not OP dependent. System should run Apache or IIS web-server, PHP 5.4+ (with FastCGI) and a MySQL database |
Not OP dependent. System should run Apache or IIS web-server, PHP 5.4+ (with FastCGI) and a MySQL database |
* ETT provides an installation program for Microsoft Windows. Other operating systems require a custom installation.
What internet browsers are supported?
- Internet Explorer 10+
- Chrome 22+
- Firefox 27+
- Safari 6+
Why don't you support older versions of browsers?
How much does the calculator cost?
Our price has three components. The server fee, the user fee, and the form fee. The server and user fees are due when the license is executed or a new user is added, while form fees are billed on a monthly basis.
Server Fee*
Server Type | USD | CAD |
---|---|---|
Cloud Subscription | 850 | 1,100 |
Small Server | 2,200 | 2,500 |
Large Server (over 50 users) | 4,400 | 5,000 |
* The server fee includes one user account.
User Fees
Each additional user is at $100 USD / 130 CAD each
Form Fees*
Number of Forms | USD | CAD |
---|---|---|
1 - 100 | Free | |
101 - 200 | 9.95 | 12.95 |
201 - 300 | 8.95 | 11.65 |
301 - 400 | 7.95 | 10.35 |
401 - 500 | 6.95 | 9.05 |
501 + | 4.95 | 6.45 |
* Per form prices
We accept payment in US or Canadian dollars by credit card, wire transfer and e-transfer.
I'm not an accountant but I am preparing my own tax return. Is there a per form pricing?
The fees vary based on the number of new transactions you have within the fund.
The base fee is $200 CAD / $150 USD per form. This covers up to 75 transactions, then increases by 10% for every additional 75 transactions. *
Check out the Fee Estimator to calculate the estimated fees using the number of transactions.
* Professional discounts available please contact us at b.lougen@form8621.com