Sunday, December 26, 2010

What I Need to Claim the Foreign Income Exclusion or Deduction


You must have
  1. Foreign earned income
  2.  tax home in a foreign country
You must be an
  1. U.S. Citizen or U.S. resident alien
  2. Bona fide resident in a country for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year or
  3. Physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months.
What you are entitled to
  1. Maximum foreign income exclusion for a qualified person is $91,500 or $183,000 for a qualified married couple.
  2. Qualified foreign housing deduction is generally limited to 30% of the maximum foreign income exclusion, $27,450. depending on the
    1. Foreign tax home
    2. No. of qualifying days.
  3. Foreign income exclusion applies only to employees.
  4. Foreign housing deduction applies only to the self-employed.