When Not to Take the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

Bret discusses the situations where you may not want to take the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. 

If you have Expat friends or know of someone living abroad, be sure to share this video with them! 

 

We offer a Three Year Look Back service.  We evaluate if you would have been better off NOT taking the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion based on your income and dates in the US.   We look at the last three years of tax returns you filed and we compare that with how we may have prepared the return differently.  We will tell you if there are amendment opportunities to amend your return to claim a refund or pay additional tax before you are “caught by the IRS” to minimize penalties.

Here is a link http://www.tax911.com/start-here/three-year-look-back/

When we prepare a tax return for overseas Americans we are evaluating how best to prepare your tax return using a five-year time horizon.

2555 vs. 1116

When we prepare your tax return we are looking at the two primary tax benefits that are available to you as an overseas Americans: the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Foreign Tax Credit. Sometimes you can receive a larger refund by NOT taking either tax benefit.  The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is reported on form 255 and allows you to exclude about US$ 100,000 of compensation for services provided outside the US even if you have a US employer.  The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion cannot be used to exclude interest, dividends, stock sales or pension income.  The Foreign Tax Credit reported on form 1116 allows you to offset or reduce your US income tax by the amount of foreign taxes you paid.  It is not dollar for dollar but based on a ratio.  It is generally beneficial to take the Foreign Tax Credit when the country you live in has a higher tax rate than the US or you have significant non-wage or non-service income. 

Most overseas Americans who prepare their own tax returns take the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to reduce their wage to zero. They believe they have gotten the best deal possible because they do not owe Uncle Sam any taxes.  

As the video shows this is not always true.  Sometimes overseas American, usually a married couple can increase their refund by US$2,000 even if they have not had any US income tax withheld.

A word of caution, there are special rules about taking the exclusion one year and not taking the exclusion the following year even though you live in the same city.  Please call us for more information.

HOW THE ADDITIONAL CHILD TAX CREDIT CAUSES THE REFUND

The video has a specific fact pattern with salary ranges for Mom, and Dad.  The one or two kids under the age of 17 are key to maximizing the “Additional Child Tax Credit.”.  There are several “Refundable Credits” that Congress has put in the tax code. Most Credits (like the Foreign Tax Credit, Adoption Credit, Residential Energy Credit, and the Lifetime Education Credit) can only be used against income tax. But a refundable credit is a Tax Credit that can be used to reduce taxes OR put cash in your pocket even if you have no tax liability and have no federal income tax.  In this case, the most common Refundable Credits is the Additional Child Tax Credit, and occasionally the Earned Income Credit.  Depending on your income level these credits can increase or decrease.  This means that at some income levels you can actually receive a larger refund as your income goes up.  Revoking the Exclusion can increase the income thereby increasing the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit.  This is counter-intuitive but it is how the tax code works.

This is what happens when the spouse earning US$10,000 to 30,000 stops taking the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion on the video.

Let us review your last three years of tax returns to see if you are a candidate for revoking your Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.  For more information on the three year look back go here:

http://www.tax911.com/start-here/three-year-look-back/

The three year look back typically benefits the following type of tax situations.

1.    Married taxpayers with one or two children under the age of 17.

2.    When a taxpayer moves overseas or back to the US.

3.    If the taxpayer received a larger than expected refund.

4.    If a taxpayer wants to know how a CPA may have prepared their return differently.

 

 

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