InterTax History
In January 6, 1996, May Ho founded InterTax in the Sunset District of San Francisco.
In 1996, May Ho began publishing articles in a column in both the “United Daily News” of Taiwan and “The World Journal” of the United States. The articles explored the effects of immigration status on taxes for green card holders and foreigners applying for green cards.
In 1997, InterTax provided accounting and tax planning services for a U.S. subsidiary of a transnational corporation in Taiwan, which was planning an IPO in Taiwan. Because of some history in its U.S. subsidiary, the parent company’s IPO could not get approval by Taiwan’s SEC. The company had contacted a few US lawyers and big firm accountants to resolve this problem without success, and turned to InterTax for help. InterTax proposed a reorganization plan involving international accounting and tax planning for the company. That plan was accepted by the SEC of Taiwan and the corporation successfully entered Taiwan’s stock market. InterTax also successfully represented the company when the company faced a sales tax audit, and achieved a large refund for the client.
In 1999, May Ho published her first book “Green Card & Taxes—Tax Saving Strategies for Investment and Immigration to America” with Linking Books of Taiwan.
In 2000, InterTax Inc. established InterTax.com, which in the decade following has provided various updated tax laws and news. In this time, InterTax also enhanced its collaboration with attorneys to provide litigation support and forensic accounting in tax issues.
In 2001, the book “Green Card & Taxes” was updated with new information and a second edition entered the market. In the same year, InterTax started e-filing tax returns and started using e-cabinets for tax returns and supporting documents storage.
In 2002, InterTax expanded and moved to The Hearst Building located in the San Francisco Financial District, and its Sunset office was moved to 16th Avenue.
In 2005, May Ho’s second book “Love and Money—Family Finance & Tax Saving Strategies” was published by Linking Books of Taiwan.
In 2006, the 2006 version of “Green Card & Taxes” was published. In addition, InterTax boosted its personalized international accounting and tax services to high–net-worth clients. May Ho was interviewed by “How2USA” -magazine and in a cover story “The Woman Who Talks Money and Speaks Love—Interviewing International Taxation Expert May Ho, CPA.”
On July 17, 2008, May Ho was invited to speak at the International Tax Group of San Francisco Chapter of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. The topic was “Taking (bringing) Business to Taiwan and Taking Taiwan Business to the U.S.” She compared and contrasted the investment and tax environments of Taiwan and the U.S.
On October 16, 2008, May Ho was invited by on-line TV station Sina.com Northern America to discuss tax strategies in anticipation of the U.S. presidential election.
On January 15, 2009, May Ho’s article “Do Taiwan Congresswoman Diane Lee (李慶安) and President Ma (馬英九) Owe U.S. taxes?” was posted on Sina.com. Also in January 2009, May Ho’s article “The Expatriate Tax Issues due to Returning to Homeland or Giving Up U.S. Citizenship/Green Cards" was published in the World Journal” The online version was reposted by various websites around the world, recieving over half-a-million page views.
On February 18, 2009, May Ho was invited by Sina.com to discuss new 2009 tax laws, tax savings on losses, and tax savings for expatriates. Click here to view videos.
In 2009, the Internal Revenue Service started the first round of “Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP).” InterTax assisted and represented clients with unreported foreign income and delinquent foreign informational returns such as FBAR, 5471, etc. to help them avoid criminal penalties. Furthermore, InterTax worked with an international law firm to provide forensic accounting services, foreign tax reporting information, and international taxation consultation services.
As one of the speakers at the symposium “What should families do during a financial crisis?” May Ho shared strategies for entering the market during difficult times, how to save taxes with losses, and how to transfer gifts to children at a low market price. Download PDF. View videos.
In 2010, InterTax once again expanded, moving to a much larger space in Suite 616 of The Hearst Building.
The Sunset District office of InterTax was remodeled in September 2010 to better serve clients going forward.
On February 22, 2011, the IRS announced the second round of “Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI)” which will be available through August 31, 2011. Besides representing clients and negotiating with the IRS, InterTax also provided forensic accounting services for international law firms.
On March 6, 2011, May Ho’s article “How to Deal with the Second Round Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative?” was published in World Journal magazine as the cover story of issue No. 1407’s, “The U.S. Casts Inescapable Dragnet to Catch Overseas Tax”
On May 13, 2011, May’s second article related to offshore investment, “Hiding Foreign Investments? The IRS May Take All of Your Assets,” was published in World Journal magazine.
June 17, 2011 May Ho was invited by the Taiwanese American Chamber of Commerce, Northern California to give a speech on the topic, “Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative – Tax Planning for Foreign Financial Relationships.”