Job Discussion Forums

[spiral78]

The schnauzer's Canadian.

The Toto in the Wizard of Oz book was black, and the one used for the television flick was a Cairn Terrier. Absolutely no relation.

[Captain_Fil]

Just curious.

Are you Canadian?

[johnslat]

Dear Qaaolchoura,

I always voted in state elections as a resdient of the state I was living in at the time (I've voted in Florida, and New Mexican elections overseas.)
I bnever made the taxable amount (it's over 90,000 a year now; it was in the 80s par tof the time I was overseas), but I filed every year for twenty=-two years.

If your co-workers are Americans overseas and are actually paying taxes, they must be making quite a bundle. Or do they work for the American giovernment?

"You may qualify for an exclusion from tax of a limited amount of income earned while working abroad. However, you must file a tax return to claim it. In general, foreign earned income is income received for services you perform in a foreign country. You also may be able to claim an exclusion or a deduction from gross income for your reasonable housing costs that are over a certain base amount. Generally, you will qualify for these benefits if your tax home (defined below) is in a foreign country, or countries, throughout your period of bona fide foreign residence or physical presence and you are one of the following:

A U.S. citizen who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year, or
A U.S. resident alien who is a citizen or national of a country with which the United States has an income tax treaty in effect and who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year, or
A U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien who is physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months.
Tax home. Your tax home is the general area of your main place of business, employment, or post of duty where you are permanently or indefinitely engaged to work. You are not considered to have a tax home in a foreign country for any period during which your abode is in the United States. However, being temporarily present in the United States, or maintaining a dwelling there, does not necessarily mean that your abode is in the United States. For details, see Publication 54.
Exclusion of foreign earned income. If your tax home is in a foreign country and you meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test, you can choose to exclude from gross income a limited amount of your foreign earned income. Your income must be for services performed in a foreign country during your period of foreign residence or presence, whichever applies. You cannot, however, exclude the pay you receive as an employee of the U.S. Government or its agencies.

Credits and deductions. If you claim the exclusion, you cannot claim any credits or deductions that are related to the excluded income. Thus, you cannot claim a foreign tax credit or deduction for any foreign income tax paid on the excluded income. Nor can you claim the earned income credit if you claim the exclusion. Also, for IRA purposes, the excluded income is not considered compensation and, for figuring deductible contributions when you are covered by an employer retirement plan, the excluded income is included in your modified adjusted gross income.

Amount excludable. If your tax home is in a foreign country and you qualify under either the bona fide residence test or physical presence test for the entire tax year, you can exclude up to $91,400 for 2009 and lesser amounts for earlier tax years. The IRS adjusts the exclusion amount yearly for inflation and it has gone up significantly over the years.

If you qualify under either test for only part of the year, you must reduce ratably the maximum amount based on the number of days within the tax year you qualified under one of the two tests.

Housing amount. If your tax home is in a foreign country and you meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test, you may be able to claim an exclusion or a deduction from gross income for a housing amount.

A housing amount is the excess, if any, of your allowable housing expenses for the tax year over a base amount. Allowable housing expenses are the reasonable expenses (such as rent, utilities other than telephone charges, and real and personal property insurance) paid or incurred during the tax year by you, or on your behalf, for your foreign housing and that of your spouse and dependents if they lived with you. You can include the rental value of housing provided by your employer in return for your services. You can also include the allowable housing expenses of a second foreign household for your spouse and dependents if they did not live with you because of dangerous, unhealthy, or otherwise adverse living conditions at your tax home. Allowable housing expenses do not include the cost of home purchase or other capital items, wages of domestic servants, or deductible interest and taxes."
Regards,
John





Regards,
John

[Prof.Gringo]