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amberflannery
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
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 Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:29 am Post subject: Do I need to pay American taxes? |
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| Do I need to pay American taxes? I've been here for almost 3 years. Last time I paid was for when I worked there in 2008. |
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frankly speaking
Joined: 23 Oct 2005
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frankly speaking
Joined: 23 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:10 am Post subject: |
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double post sorry
Last edited by frankly speaking on Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:13 am; edited 1 time in total |
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seonsengnimble
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
Location: taking a ride on the magic English bus
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ChilgokBlackHole
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:22 am Post subject: |
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| From what I understand, you need to pay here or there. Don't be retarded and file for an exemption in both places. The IRS aren't morons. They will find you. And when they do, pray whatever god you believe in have mercy on your soul. |
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Konglishman
Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:58 am Post subject: |
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| ChilgokBlackHole wrote: |
| From what I understand, you need to pay here or there. Don't be retarded and file for an exemption in both places. The IRS aren't morons. They will find you. And when they do, pray whatever god you believe in have mercy on your soul. |
Sorry, man. This is a misconception on your part. The 2 year exemption from the Korea Income Tax is completely independent of the Foreign Income Exclusion. I have asked the IRS about this a number of a times. They have no connection to each other. This is due to a provision that is always in the tax treaties, which says that enjoying the benefits of a tax treaty has no effect on how you are taxed by the U.S. government which of course, includes your eligibility for the Foreign Income Exclusion.
Of course, it is true that it becomes harder to remain eligible for the Certificate of Residency after that 2 year exemption from the Korea Income Tax, unless of course, you go back to the U.S. to work. I suppose that the only way you might be able to legally get away with not paying local taxes, while still living overseas, would be to hop between different countries (which have tax treaties with the U.S.) every two years. But that would be more trouble than it would be worth. Also, you have to own property in the U.S. or something in order to claim strong enough ties to the U.S. in order for the IRS to continue giving you a Certificate of Residency.
To the OP, unless you are not earning income, you are always required to file a tax return to the IRS.
P.S.
I have a thread about this very topic. Further, I have been very careful to back up the information I have gotten from the IRS with quotes and links from their website.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=175572&highlight= |
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ChilgokBlackHole
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:38 am Post subject: |
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| Konglishman wrote: |
| ChilgokBlackHole wrote: |
| From what I understand, you need to pay here or there. Don't be retarded and file for an exemption in both places. The IRS aren't morons. They will find you. And when they do, pray whatever god you believe in have mercy on your soul. |
Sorry, man. This is a misconception on your part. |
I guess since I have income in both places and continuing interests in both places, it might be different for me. |
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jugbandjames
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:21 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| To the OP, unless you are not earning income, you are always required to file a tax return to the IRS. |
That's not entirely true. You only have to file a tax return if you owe them money or are eligible for a refund. So basically, if you had taxes withheld and you don't owe any additional taxes and you don't expect a refund and you make less than the minimum filing requirement, then you don't need to file. Although, if you anticipate that the IRS thinks you owe them money even though you don't (due to an exemption or something) it's probably a good idea to file. Here's a checklist for if you should file or not:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html |
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austinmc86
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
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Snowkr
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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I would file regardless of whether you're owed a refund or you owe the IRS money. U.S. citizens working here do not need to pay income tax and if you file late, there shouldn't be any penalty provided you've worked a full tax year.
Social security tax is another ball of wax though. Be careful with this when you do file. If your Korean employer isn't paying into pension for you, you may have to pay U.S. s.s. tax on all your foreign income.
Been there, done that-- and it was A LOT of money. |
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call_the_shots
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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| jugbandjames wrote: |
| Quote: |
| To the OP, unless you are not earning income, you are always required to file a tax return to the IRS. |
That's not entirely true. You only have to file a tax return if you owe them money or are eligible for a refund. So basically, if you had taxes withheld and you don't owe any additional taxes and you don't expect a refund and you make less than the minimum filing requirement, then you don't need to file. Although, if you anticipate that the IRS thinks you owe them money even though you don't (due to an exemption or something) it's probably a good idea to file. Here's a checklist for if you should file or not:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html |
The minimum filing requirement is $9,350 per year. Just about every English teacher makes more than that. So, we need to file.
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96644,00.html |
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Hawkeye Pierce
Joined: 22 Jan 2010
Location: Uijeongbu
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| Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:41 am Post subject: |
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| Snowkr wrote: |
I would file regardless of whether you're owed a refund or you owe the IRS money. U.S. citizens working here do not need to pay income tax and if you file late, there shouldn't be any penalty provided you've worked a full tax year.
Social security tax is another ball of wax though. Be careful with this when you do file. If your Korean employer isn't paying into pension for you, you may have to pay U.S. s.s. tax on all your foreign income.
Been there, done that-- and it was A LOT of money. |
Are you saying that you had this problem when working here in Korea?
If so how did the IRS know your Korean employer wasn't paying pension for you?
Are the Korean tax authorities sharing information with the IRS, or did something else happen to you? |
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red_devil
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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| call_the_shots wrote: |
| jugbandjames wrote: |
| Quote: |
| To the OP, unless you are not earning income, you are always required to file a tax return to the IRS. |
That's not entirely true. You only have to file a tax return if you owe them money or are eligible for a refund. So basically, if you had taxes withheld and you don't owe any additional taxes and you don't expect a refund and you make less than the minimum filing requirement, then you don't need to file. Although, if you anticipate that the IRS thinks you owe them money even though you don't (due to an exemption or something) it's probably a good idea to file. Here's a checklist for if you should file or not:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html |
The minimum filing requirement is $9,350 per year. Just about every English teacher makes more than that. So, we need to file.
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96644,00.html |
Aren't they referring to money made in the states? If you've lived in Korea and worked there for more than a year, than you've paid no taxes on money earned in the states for that tax year. As long as the money you've earned in Korea is less than the $91,000 you don't have to file - the only other reason you'd file is if the IRS owes you a refund. |
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call_the_shots
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| red_devil wrote: |
| call_the_shots wrote: |
| jugbandjames wrote: |
| Quote: |
| To the OP, unless you are not earning income, you are always required to file a tax return to the IRS. |
That's not entirely true. You only have to file a tax return if you owe them money or are eligible for a refund. So basically, if you had taxes withheld and you don't owe any additional taxes and you don't expect a refund and you make less than the minimum filing requirement, then you don't need to file. Although, if you anticipate that the IRS thinks you owe them money even though you don't (due to an exemption or something) it's probably a good idea to file. Here's a checklist for if you should file or not:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html |
The minimum filing requirement is $9,350 per year. Just about every English teacher makes more than that. So, we need to file.
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96644,00.html |
Aren't they referring to money made in the states? If you've lived in Korea and worked there for more than a year, than you've paid no taxes on money earned in the states for that tax year. As long as the money you've earned in Korea is less than the $91,000 you don't have to file - the only other reason you'd file is if the IRS owes you a refund. |
If the money you earned in Korea is less than the $91,000 you don't have to pay taxes (because you can exclude it using form 2555). But you still need to file. |
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jugbandjames
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| The minimum filing requirement is $9,350 per year. Just about every English teacher makes more than that. So, we need to file. |
Well, if someone graduated college last spring and went to Korea in the fall, they may not have earned over the minimum for the year. |
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