Foreign Income for Royalty

[KC-CPA]

I have a client who recieved roughly $2K for royalty's in about 15 countries related to songs he wrote and that were played in Foreign countries

There is a list of 15 countries with the royalty amount and for taxes taken out for Royalties so I am guessing from a US perspective he could get a foreign tax credit, however, my concern is what obligation he has with the foreign countries does he have to file the numbers are all less than $1K or even $500.

Any ideas? I could tell you what my first idea was but I better not...

[Koss]

Foreign Countries

Whether he has to file a return will depend on the tax law for each of the 15 countries.

Good luck.



With that being said, many countries, including the US, require withholding at the source on payments to foreign persons, especially foreign persons who don't have a tax ID number, precisely because they know that such people are unlikely to file a return, and that enforcement efforts are likely to be expensive and ineffective.

In many cases, when tax is withheld at the source on a payment to a foreign person, a return is not required.

But the requirements vary with each country, and with the amount and type of income.

BMK