American in Kuwait - Does he / she have to pay US tax?
My question is: US-specific QUESTION: Does a US citizen earning $200,000.00 US in Dubai have to pay any taxes on the money earned when he returns? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- david ingram replies: US citizens are taxable on their world income where ever they work and regardless of where the money is paid from and regardless of the reason for which it is paid. The only exception would be a property settlement or child support from a divorce and sometimes there may be a reliever, but the income is still reportable before the deduction or exemption. An American is allowed to earn up to $80,000 per year and exempt it by filling out Form 2555. To qualify for form 2555, the individual must have been in the foreign country for 3330 out of 365 days or have lived in the foreign country for an entire calendar year. Assuming you are single and an employee ( maybe the manager of a Dubai or Kuwait or Qatar hotel, a salary of $200,000 US would earn a US tax bill of about $26,000 but would mean that you had not paid into Social Security and would get a smaller pension on retirement. If you were self-employed, you would have to pay social Security as well. $200,000 of self-employment (after the $80,000 exemption) would be about $16,250 Social Security plus $23,750 of Income Tax (the tax is smaller than before because 1/2 of the $16,250 would be a tax deduction. (these are 2004 tax rates by the way). Happy to help you with your returns. Even though I am a Canadian in Canada, my favourite client is a US citizen in Qatar, Dubai, Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. I have been doing those returns for 42 years now. It is also very important that you file the returns on time which means June 15, 2006 for the 2005 tax return because you have an automatic extension till June 15 (instead of April 15) when a US citizen resides out of the country. David Ingram's US/Canada Services US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists US / Canada Real Estate Specialists Home office at: 4466 Prospect Road North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7 Cell (604) 657-8451 - (604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325 Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week (please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home office) email to taxman at centa.com <mailto:taxman at centa.com> www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com/> www.david-ingram.com <http://www.david-ingram.com/> Disclaimer: This question has been answered without detailed information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general comment. Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader and the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent and appropriately qualified legal practitioner or tax specialist for expert help, assistance, preparation, or consultation in connection with personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com> . If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be included." Be ALERT, the world needs more "lerts" David Ingram specializes in giving expert income tax and immigration help to American and Canadian citizens living out of their home countries from Zimbabwe to Saudi Arabia to Mexico to China or Chile - Cross border, Non-resident - dual citizen - out of country investments are all handled with competence and authority. This from "ask an income tax and immigration expert" from www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com/> or www.jurock.com <http://www.jurock.com/> or www.featureweb.com <http://www.featureweb.com/> . David Ingram deals on a daily basis with expatriate tax returns with: multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate problems for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, China, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Georgia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, Montana, Morocco, Israel, Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Bangkok, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada,, Virgin Islands, US, UK, GB, and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc. Rockwall, Dallas, San Antonio Houston Denmark, Finland, Sweden Norway Bulgaria Croatia Income Tax and Immigration Tips, Income Tax Immigration Wizard Antarctica Rwanda Guru Consultant Specialist Section 216(4) 216(1) NR6 NR-6 NR 6 Non-Resident Real Estate tax specialist expert preparer expatriate anti money laundering money seasoning FINTRAC E677 E667 105 106 TDF-90 Reporting $10,000 cross border transactions Grand Cayman Aruba Zimbabwe South Africa Namibia help USA US Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Garland, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon. 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