Job Discussion Forums

[Hatcher]

A buddy of mine has a job off shore in the UAE on an oil rig. He works a month on - month off. Anyone know where jobs like this are available?

[veiledsentiments]

Your friend may be your best source. I've never seen one posted (not that I have searched widely), nor have we had any teacher on here who claimed to have such a job in the UAE.

We've had people who had jobs like this in Libya and Africa.

VS

[PattyFlipper]

ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) used to have a few positions like this available years ago, but I've not seen or heard of anything recently.

[Badar Bin Bada Boom]

Marathon Oil and Exxon-Mobil have good rotation jobs in Equatorial Guinea. 28 days on/28 off, but when you're on, you work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. On the other hand, those off weeks are sweet,a nd you rack up a lot of frequent-flier miles, probably a quarter-million in 15 months when you include the bonus 40,000 that you get when you sign up for something like United's Mileage Explorer Visa card (Star Alliance). They currently pay about $325 a day and they pay you for 31 days at a time if you commute from the States, since travel days are paid. They don't pay for the off weeks, which means the annual wages are about $60,000. To me, it's not a lot for that kind of grueling schedule and days Up in the Air like George Clooney.

By the way, those jobs are hired through the Wood Group--a Scottish and Houston-based staffing company. Maybe others too.

[Middle East Beast]

[Badar Bin Bada Boom]

My CPA worked magic. My bona-fide residence was accepted (no kidding--I have the tax returns right in front of me), and in any case, the 30-days-in-the-US rule can be pro-rated. So if the foreign-earned income exclusion is $91,000 and you spent 180 days in the US, your foreign-earned income exclusion is $45,500. Also, even though the Equatorial Guinea taxes are paid by the employer, the CPA was able to deduct them in the US! Along with my US-owned house deductions, I paid nothing in taxes.

[Middle East Beast]

That's a very interesting read of the Physical Presence rule--I don't see any allowance there for pro-rating; but, hopefully you won't be audited.

I also have to wonder about the cost of a CPA's services.

MEB

[Badar Bin Bada Boom]

I know. That rule about pro-rating being allowed is not well known among the lay people like myself, but my CPA is a shareholder in a prestigious firm in Houston. I'm sure this firm would not subject me to audits over fraudulent returns. The prorating and deductions are all there in the completed forms. And he got me bona-fide residence, not physical presence, possibly because I went from my UAE job DIRECTLY to Africa without a US layover--I don't know and I don't care.

They charge me $450 currently.

VS will say I'm silly to pay a CPA and it's all so easy to do it yourself...uh, well, with two houses in the US and all those deductions and the magic of winding up with no taxes incurred, and pro-rating the time spent in the US, which I didn't even know about, I would never have attempted it myself and probably would have wound up paying taxes on $60K!.

[Middle East Beast]

Well, it's obviously possible since you did it. Looking at the numbers, I can't understand the relationship between 35 (365-330) and 180 days vis-a-vis being able to claim 50% of the allowed foreign earned income exclusion. The only pro-ration section of the Form 2555 is Part 7, which applies to both rules.

In the context of the Physical Presence rule I just reviewed in the instructions, I just don't see any provision for pro-rating:

To meet this test, you must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien who is physically present in a foreign country, or countries, for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 months in a row. A full day means the 24-hour period that starts at midnight.

Not to belabor this further, but you're smart to stick with Bona Fide Resident.

MEB

[johnslat]

I did find this:

"Prorated Exclusion

Under the physical presence test, you can choose any consecutive 12-month period to qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion. You would then prorate your maximum exclusion by the amount of days you were physically present during the tax year. The exclusion is calculated by the ratio of the number of days physically present in the foreign county (numerator) to the number of days in the year (denominator).
Your pro-rated exclusion amount may not exceed the maximum allowable exclusion."

http://taxes.about.com/od/taxhelp/a/ForeignIncome_3.htm

Regards,
John

[Middle East Beast]

(And I promised not to belabor this... )

That refers to Part 7 of the form. If you click on "physical presence test" in the article you cited, it states:

Physical Presence Test
You are considered physically present in a foreign country (or countries) if you reside in that country (or countries) for at least 330 full days in a 12-month period. You can live and work in any number of foreign countries, but you must be physically present in those countries for at least 330 full days.

So you've got to be out of the US for 330 days. No way around that.

MEB

[Gus Barkley]

I'm not a CPA, but I have read the details. Yes, by the physical presence rule you get 30 days. Period. By the residency rule it is a pro-rated amount. Therefore, even though I spent 60 days in the US in 2010 I had no tax liability because my income did not meet the threshold.

[veiledsentiments]

The key is that Badar... like most of us... already had bonafide residence overseas. Basically the physical presence ruling need only be used for your very first year abroad.

But I can tell you that neither Turbo Tax nor Tax Cut would have been set up to catch that one. You would have to override the program which is not something that everyone dares to do. Both programs can easily handle the US housing deductions though - both personal residence and income property.

VS

[Middle East Beast]

[Badar Bin Bada Boom]

Yes--I've been teaching overseas since 1986 almost continuously. I haven't used physical presence since then.

My CPA just completed the forms for 2010 the other day, with a filing extension in order to await my return to the US for vacation in order to sign it. I cannot reliably get important docs. where I am located.

He even got me a $398 refund this year despite my entire wages being excluded as foreign-earned income. I don't know how he did it, but it has to do with the second house being sold. I think. I didn't have time to examine the documents. It was my last day in the US and I had to put them in storage.