Question

Foreign Country Residence country not listed AND $0 housing expenses

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
August 15, 2024
1 reply
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Hello,

I will be starting a job soon working overseas 6 months at a time, and home (Stateside) for approximately 21 days. I will have a total of 344 days overseas. My country is not listed on form 2555 and my housing expense is $0 due to being an overseas contractor. How would I fill out form 2555?

Not A Product Question

P

pk12_2

Employee

@Eucalyptus , generally a country is not listed for purposes Cost of Living adjustments --- but it should not affect your 2555 -- because you just have to enter your wages and any housing assistance. Obviously I am speaking in generalities - I need at least the following info first :

(a) Are you a US person ( citizen / GreenCard ) ?

(b) which country would be your Tax home ?

(c) Because you are taking home leave every six months -- that expense ( if paid by the employer ) needs to be included on your form 2555.

(d) Who is your employer ( a local entity / a subsidiary of a US entity / US govt or any of its branches etc. etc. )

(e) Is your Tax-Home country going to tax you on your wages while working in that country ?

Please provide as much info as you can. I will circle back once I hear from you.

E

EucalyptusAuthor

(a) Are you a US person ( citizen / GreenCard ) ? - I am a U.S. Citizen

(b) which country would be your Tax home ? - United States - California to be more specific

(c) Because you are taking home leave every six months -- that expense ( if paid by the employer ) needs to be included on your form 2555. - My employer is 100% covering the cost of travel from California to the Foreign country and back to California.

(d) Who is your employer ( a local entity / a subsidiary of a US entity / US govt or any of its branches etc. etc. ) - My employer is a Civilian company that works for / with the US Military.

(e) Is your Tax-Home country going to tax you on your wages while working in that country ? - My Tax home country will more than likely tax me on my wages while working in the foreign country, because the U.S. loves taking people's money.

P

pk12_2

Employee

@Eucalyptus Iam sorry , I was not clear --- your foreign tax home country is what I need . That is where you are going to establish a tax home. Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is available ONLY when one has a Foreign Tax home.

From your answers I am assuming that you are not moving your family to the foreign country, you keep a home in the USA and file jointly with your spouse --yes ?