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June 5, 2019
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I am a foreign resident but a citizen of the USA. I have no US income to report. Do I have to file? I tried to file on turbo tax but they say the amount is too low to e-file and that I have to mail in a return, which is not all that easy from a forei

  • June 5, 2019
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Best answer by ChristinaS

You have to file a US return if your worldwide income meets the filing threshold- it doesn't matter how much was earned in the US. US citizens report their income from anywhere.

The threshold is $10,350 in US dollars (equivalent).

Click begin at the bottom here:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/do-i-need-to-file-a-tax-return 

Also, keep in mind that overseas taxpayers have extra time to file, and the deadline is never particularly relevant if you don't owe taxes.

You probably do need to file. However, you probably don't owe tax or need to worry about getting it done today.

1 reply

Employee
June 5, 2019

You have to file a US return if your worldwide income meets the filing threshold- it doesn't matter how much was earned in the US. US citizens report their income from anywhere.

The threshold is $10,350 in US dollars (equivalent).

Click begin at the bottom here:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/do-i-need-to-file-a-tax-return 

Also, keep in mind that overseas taxpayers have extra time to file, and the deadline is never particularly relevant if you don't owe taxes.

You probably do need to file. However, you probably don't owe tax or need to worry about getting it done today.

June 5, 2019
Thank you so much ChristinaS! OK -I figured as much. But then do I need to pay US taxes on foreign-earned money? That doesn't seem very convenient given that my foreign income is already subject to local taxes. If I have to pay taxes in two countries, I would be left with almost nothing........