Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mark7]

I was wondering if any Americans can help me out with the Form 8802 for tax purposes. Its basically a tax form that declares your residency in the United States, but I was not sure what it is essentially used for. Filling it out was a royal pain because the wonderful IRS makes their forms very understandable and easy to fill out.

My school asked me to fill it out and send it to the IRS, which I did, with a return address, but I never got it back. I wasted money in fees and in postage.

Has anyone filled out the 8802? If so, what is the correct process in completing it and sending it home? What are the benefits? The IRS website was not all that helpful.

[Bibbitybop]

It gives you residency in your home country and exempts you from Korean taxes for 2 years. The form took about a month to get returned to me. You can call the IRS directly, too, and have it resent.

[Coffeeprincess]

I'm American, too and was wondering when we need to do our 2007 taxes by? April 15th? I have no income to declare in the U.S., but I do have income to declare from Korea.

Bibbitybop, if filling out this Form 8802 exempts me from Korean taxes, will I still have to pay taxes in the U.S.? As it is, barely any taxes get taken out of my paycheck here in Korea.

[Bibbitybop]

First, read the stickies and FAQs, I'm pretty sure there's a tax one. Or search the site by going to google.com doing a search along with "eslcafe.com."


Second, form 8802 gets you a certificate that exempts you from Korean tax.

USA tax is a different story. You are exempt from taxes on income under $85,000 (or so) as long as you live outside the USA for 330 days out of the year. You can fill out an extension for state and federal if you haven't been in Korea for 330 days yet. Then you can pay your taxes later, after you have been out of the country for 330 days. So I came to Korea in August, and then paid my taxes a year later in August in order to get the 330 day qualification.

It sucks doing taxes, especially if you live overseas. I paid a tax agent to do mine, and I paid heftily. Some of my friends swear by "Turbo tax" or other programs, and I may venture that way this year.