Job Discussion Forums

[akolsky1]

Is there a website w/ info about working abroad/agreements w/ different countries and our tax liablity for either the country we are teaching in or for the USA? any info would be great. Don't have a particular country in mind b/c I am still researching.
Thanks,
A

[Glenski]

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/content/0,,id=199953,00.html

Go figure.

[Marcoregano]

Can anyone offer any general advice on filing US tax from abroad? My (US) partner has been teaching overseas for 12 years now but hasn't done a single tax return. It is starting to worry her a bit, partly because she thinks that she may be fined - which is keeping her from doing it!

I understand that there is a critical annual income figure of around US70,000 pa, which I don't think she has exceeded, but does that exempt her from filing returns? I suspect not ... She did try a few years ago but the found the forms lengthy, confusing and tedious ... and gave up.

Should she be worried? Or not?

Thanks for any advice on this.

[Glenski]

Last year the exempt salary was about $87,500, not $70,000. That means exempt from being taxed, not from filing. You are still required to file.

General advice? File. Don't be stupid. You will have to back file anyway, and when you return home, it'll look highly suspicious.

Just file. Takes half an hour unless you have money sitting at home somewhere in other forms. The forms may seem daunting to some, but you don't even have to fill them out all the way. I believe the online forms only require a few lines, and then you let the Feds do the rest.

No reason not to file. No excuses.

[MikeySaid]

You file even when you have no income?

I think I made 2000 dollars last year as I headed back to the US at the end of February and started looking for a job. Not surprisingly, they were hard to come by and by the time I was offered work in the US, I had to head back to Mexico for my already-planned wedding and lived on the cheap until starting work in 2009 at a university down here.

Im supposed to file on my 2k of income?

[jr1965]

Hi Marco,

See this IRS publication: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf . I recall going here when I was living in Spain recently and had to file US taxes from there. There's a lot of info you can probably skip, but chek out pp 11-12 (bottom of page 11 under the heading that reads �Who Qualifies for the Exclusion & Deduction?�) & then pp 22 on (esp the info on form 2555).

Even if your partner does not have to pay any US taxes, there is still a form she needs to file, basically telling the IRS what her status is. I think it�s the one at the end of the publication above. If not, do a search on IRS.gov or go the website and call the IRS (there�s a phone # you can call if you�re outside the US �at cost to you, of course) and ask what the form is.

After working in Asia for a number of years back in the 90s, I returned to the US and got married. When we were filing papers to get my husband his residence card, I was asked to show tax records for the previous 5 years. Well, I didn�t have any since I�d been working overseas 5+ years. That�s when I found out that in spite of the fact that I hadn�t had any taxable income in the US (or any assets in the US that could be taxed), I still should have filed a form each year. I was able to �back file� for the years I�d been out of the US and all was fine. As I recall, the form was short. Really, tell your partner not to worry.

If you made any income in the US in 2008 (or any year before), you are supposed to report this (and pay any necessary taxes), even if you now reside outside the country.

[jr1965]

Oh, one thing I forgot to add: If you�re outside the US, you have until June 15 to file with the IRS (for 2008). For back filing for earlier years, you might want to contact the IRS and ask how to go about this; there�s probably ANOTHER form!