US business · Delivered in the United States
US business tax and payroll, run from Dubai with our US associates.
US returns and payroll for a UAE group or a Dubai owner, prepared and signed by our US associates, reviewed and coordinated from Dubai.
US business returns · US
The federal return, the state returns and the forms around them.
Which return depends on how the company is taxed. A C corporation files Form 1120. An S corporation files Form 1120-S and gives each shareholder a Schedule K-1. A partnership, or an LLC with more than one member, files Form 1065 and gives each partner a K-1. The K-1 is what the owner needs for their own return, so the business return has to be finished first.
A company that sells or has people in more than one state usually owes a return in each of them. State rules differ on what creates a filing duty, so the list of states is settled at the start of the year, not discovered in April.
A company selling into California registers with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the CDTFA, and files sales and use tax returns on the schedule the CDTFA sets. For most sellers that is quarterly, due the last day of the month after the quarter. Larger sellers also make prepayments on the 24th.
Anyone the company paid for services as a contractor gets a Form 1099-NEC by 31 January, and the IRS gets a copy on the same date.
When a letter comes from the IRS or a state, we read it, answer it and keep the file. Most notices are a question, not a penalty, if they are answered by the date on the letter.
Every one of these returns is built from a set of books. Where the books are ours as well, the return is prepared rather than reconstructed. See US bookkeeping.
The year, for a December year end
- 31 JanForms W-2 and 1099-NECTo employees, contractors and the IRS
- 15 MarForms 1120-S and 1065, with the K-1sThe 15th day of the third month after year end. Extension to 15 September on request
- 15 AprForm 1120The 15th day of the fourth month after year end. Extension to 15 October on request
- QuarterlyCalifornia sales and use taxLast day of the month after the quarter, on the schedule the CDTFA sets
- Per stateState returns, franchise tax and annual reportsEach state sets its own date
Dates that fall on a weekend or a US holiday move to the next business day.
US payroll · US
Every pay run has a federal form, a state form and a date.
Payroll in the United States is a set of filings that do not wait. Tax deposits, a quarterly return, an annual unemployment return, and in California two quarterly reports to the Employment Development Department. We run the pay, file the forms and keep the register.
- Form 941, quarterly. Federal income tax withheld and Social Security and Medicare tax, due the last day of the month after each quarter: 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January.
- Form 940, annual. Federal unemployment tax, due 31 January.
- California DE 9 and DE 9C, quarterly. The contribution return and the wage report to the EDD, due 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January, and late after the last day of that month.
- Form W-2, by 31 January. To every employee and to the Social Security Administration.
- New hires. Form I-9 to verify the right to work, completed by the employee on the first day and by the employer within three business days. Form W-4 for federal withholding. In California, the new employee report to the EDD within 20 days.
- 401(k) contributions. Employee deferrals and the employer match calculated on each pay run and sent to the plan on time.
How it runs
Every two weeks or once a month. Same day, same file.
You send the hours, the salary changes and the new hires by an agreed day. The associates run the pay, make the deposits and issue the pay statements. Each quarter the 941 and the California reports go in with proof of filing. In January the W-2s and the 940 close the year. Everything for the year sits in one folder you can hand to a bank, an auditor or a buyer.
Payroll is run and the forms are signed by our US associates. The firm coordinates from Dubai and checks that the payroll agrees with the books, so the wages on the 941s match the wages in the accounts.
One employee is enough to need all of this. The first pay run creates the federal and state duties; there is no small-employer exemption from the forms.
Audit support for American CPA firms · US
Working papers for your audits, under your name.
A CPA firm in the United States that is short of hands in the season can send us the fieldwork. The engagement stays yours: your engagement letter, your opinion, your signature. We produce the working papers to your templates, under your review, and you keep the client.
The work follows the AICPA audit guides, the Statements on Auditing Standards and your firm's own methodology. It is led by a California licensed CPA, license 147070, with our US associates on the US side.
Dubai is 9 to 12 hours ahead of the United States. A file sent at the end of your day is worked on while you sleep and is back at the start of the next.
What we take off your desk
- White-label working papers. Planning, risk assessment, substantive testing and the file in your format, ready for your review.
- PBC lists. The prepared-by-client request list issued, chased and tracked, so the fieldwork starts with the documents in hand.
- Peer review support. Files brought up to standard before the review, and the points a reviewer raises fixed afterwards.
- Clean-up before the audit. Reconciliations and adjustments where the client's books need it, kept separate from the audit file.
Who signs what
Prepared and signed in the United States. Reviewed and coordinated in Dubai.
US returns and payroll forms are prepared and signed by our US associates in Dallas, Texas and Laguna Hills, California. The firm's California licensed CPA, license 147070, reviews and coordinates each file from Dubai. The UAE side of the same group, the audit, the corporate tax return and the books, is signed in Dubai under the firm's own registrations. One office holds both files, so the numbers agree.
Questions we are asked
Four straight answers.
- 01
Who actually signs our US return?
Our US associates in Dallas, Texas and Laguna Hills, California. The firm's California licensed CPA reviews the file and coordinates it from Dubai. You deal with Dubai. The signature on the return is American.
- 02
We have a UAE company and a US subsidiary. Can one firm do both?
Yes. The UAE audit and corporate tax return are done in Dubai. The US return is prepared by the associates from the same accounts, so the intercompany balances and the related party pricing agree on both sides. See Corporate tax for the UAE side.
- 03
We have one employee in the United States. Do we need payroll?
Yes. One employee means federal withholding, Form 941 every quarter, Form 940 every year, a W-2 in January and the state's own filings from the first pay run.
- 04
What does it cost?
A fixed fee, quoted within one business day of seeing the company's last return and a list of its states and employees, before any work starts.
Related
What usually comes with it.
Contact us