Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PRagic]

Supposedly, the IRS will automatically file for you if you don't file, and this can work against you as they don't take out deductions for you. For the average teacher, though, this won't impact your return (nada, anyway).

Why not file while you're here? It takes about 5 minutes to do the paperwork. Plus, if you ever get into a relationships and wind up wanting to apply for a green card for your spouse, you'll need at least 3 years of returns.

So:

-You won't have to pay any taxes
-You'll have a paper trail that will work in your favor later on
-You'll have a record of how little you made in the dawn of the 21st century that you can show your grandkids some day.

[Geckoman]

[buji]

erm... was i supposed to?

[Geckoman]

[mc_jc]

Since I work for the US military, yes I have to file my taxes. I go to the Finance office on Main Post to get my W2 if they are not mailed to my office by January.
ESL teachers are lucky- they are exempt from paying taxes for workable income under $85,000. All they have to do is file IRS Form-2555 for the exemption. I had to do it when I was an ESL teacher.
My advice is to have someone complete it for you the first time, such as H&R Block or an accountant who handles these things. Once you see how it is completed, you can complete the form by yourself the next time (basically, the form records your annual income and the amount of time you spent overseas). But remember, you have about 2 months (maybe more) extra time to Tax Form-2555, which means you have until Jun 15th to file your taxes.

I'd go see a servicing accountant first before deciding how to file.