YSK that if Americans live outside of the US for more than 330 days a year, they don't have to pay taxes on $125,000 of their income that year
YSK that if Americans live outside of the US for more than 330 days a year, they don't have to pay taxes on $125,000 of their income that year
why: so the government won't be able to use your money for whatever the fuck they're planning for the next 4 years.
as a traveler, none of my money has been funding Israel, for example.
one-step method: you basically fill out one extra tax form called FEIE while you're doing your taxes, write down the dates you were outside of the country, and then since you aren't in the country and are not receiving any services from the US, you don't have to pay income tax up to a certain amount (it's a little over 125k this year).
You're viewing a single thread.
I always find it mad as hell that Americans have to pay tax in the US even if they are living and earning elsewhere
Especially given generally Americans are pretty allergic to reasonable taxation
yeah it is totally banana stacks, and nobody tells anybody else how to get around that, of course.
since nobody knows the sacred knowledge anyway.
some tax guy, not my tax guy, just a random guy who worked in taxes, offhandedly mentioned it to me like it was no big deal one day and I was like whaaaat?
most of the expats I know just don't pay taxes because they're dumb, or they're paying taxes that they don't need to because nobody told them about the FEIE.
You still need to file every year. An advisor at least here in Germany can do both countries, but you pay a premium for that.
I addressed that in a comment but I did not include that in the body.
fixed.
The FEIE is super simple to fill out.
pretty sure you have to fill out the 2555 as well bro
you also have to pay tax where you are domicile, aka where you live
"...the 2555 as well..."
nope, not "as well", the 2555 is the single FEIE form I am explaining about in this post.
"you also have to pay tax where you are domicile"
nope, inclusive taxes are usually paid directly to the foreign government.
you can claim a US housing tax exemption for the same reason as the FEIE, but paying taxes on your foreign housing is usually unnecessary.
yeah ok the 2555 is the FEIE you mentioned.
its important to note that if youre within the US for more than that 35 day exemption, you start to pay taxes pro-rata.
I think you agreed with what I said just using different words about paying taxes where you do live- yes, you pay them directly to the government where you are domicle.
"yeah ok the 2555 is the FEIE you mentioned."
yeah, that's why i said it, haha.
"if youre within the US for more than that 35 day exemption, you start to pay taxes."
are you going to rewrite everything I said in the post and comments?
to me?
"you pay them directly to the government where you are domicle. "
you are!
You're paraphrasing my words back to me.
huh.
curiouser and curiouser.
you know, it's clear that you're trying to be helpful to folks, but you come off like an asshole. just an fyi!
I find a lot of things funny.
your comments are funny.
you sent me two comments, the first of which was wrong on both counts and sounded like it was straight copy pasted from something you just searched,
and then after I corrected you on those points,
without any acknowledgment of your mistakes, you sent a second comment that paraphrased three things I had written earlier to me.
Why?
what was your end game?
I know there's foolery in there somewhere, and I don't stand for foolery!
are you trying to sounds smart by repeating interesting things I said in this post?
repeat them to other people, they will be impressed.
but I rode those things.
Why?
what was the point of your first and second comments?
it sounds like you were trying to "um actually" me, but didn't know what you were talking about, which is hilarious.
I guess that made you feel bad.
try not to one-up people unless you at least have your facts right.
and definitely don't try to one-up people by repeating the things they wrote back to them.
that won't work!
you're honestly a strange person.
so, ive lived outside of the US for over 15 years and have filed taxes where i live and back in the US, where I file the 1040 and the 2555, because you have to. You don't only fill out the 2555. I know a bunch of americans here and never once have I heard of the 2555 called a "FEIE Form" the way you're describing it.
You said "you don't pay tax on the first approx 125k", and I pointed out that you absolutely do pay tax, just not to the US, you pay to the government in the country where you're living. its not tax free, its just to the government of Australia or wherever you live instead of the US.
I also mentioned that people will pay tax on earned income under that 125k if youre in the states over 35 days, but that its prorated, so its not that you pay 100% of taxes all of a sudden, it's what you would pay divided by 330 (if you were one day over, or 329 if you were over by two days, etc.)
just trying to expand and clarify on your post. apparently its your area of complete expertise and anyone saying anything is just googling shit to bask in the glory of your genius, though. stay cool
I heard you need to file every year even if you've never lived in the US.
Depends. For example in Finland the filing is done for you every year by the tax authorities and tax is deducted every month from your salary. Once a year you get either money back or need to pay more if your work situation changes during the year. You can also correct them by saying "hey I paid this bus card" etc. and get money back.
In Germany it works about the same, except they charge you quite a lot more every month. Here you do not have to file, but if you do you usually get a lot of money back. Filing is more complex than in Finland, so you might want to have a tax advisor to do it for you.
I read somewhere that Eritrea (the North Korea of Africa) is the only other country that has this policy.
Once again the US is in good company.