why: so the government won’t be able to use your money for whatever the fuck they’re planning for the next 4 years.
as a traveler, none of my money has been funding Israel, for example.
one-step method: you basically fill out one extra tax form called FEIE while you’re doing your taxes, write down the dates you were outside of the country, and then since you aren’t in the country and are not receiving any services from the US, you don’t have to pay income tax up to a certain amount (it’s a little over 125k this year).
you’re honestly a strange person.
so, ive lived outside of the US for over 15 years and have filed taxes where i live and back in the US, where I file the 1040 and the 2555, because you have to. You don’t only fill out the 2555. I know a bunch of americans here and never once have I heard of the 2555 called a “FEIE Form” the way you’re describing it.
You said “you don’t pay tax on the first approx 125k”, and I pointed out that you absolutely do pay tax, just not to the US, you pay to the government in the country where you’re living. its not tax free, its just to the government of Australia or wherever you live instead of the US.
I also mentioned that people will pay tax on earned income under that 125k if youre in the states over 35 days, but that its prorated, so its not that you pay 100% of taxes all of a sudden, it’s what you would pay divided by 330 (if you were one day over, or 329 if you were over by two days, etc.)
just trying to expand and clarify on your post. apparently its your area of complete expertise and anyone saying anything is just googling shit to bask in the glory of your genius, though. stay cool
“so, ive lived outside of the US for over 15 years”
sounds very likely. must be why you’re unaware of the tax form designation and function you’ve filled out “15” times.
“You don’t only fill out the 2555.”
to qualify for the FEIE, you do.
“I know a bunch of americans here and never once have I heard of the 2555 called a “FEIE Form””
oh really, all of your friends abroad that you don’t call expats like literally every other long-term traveler?
and they’re also very familiar with form 2555 but exclusively refer to it by the awkward moniker “form 2555”?
“come on gang, let’s go to the 20 U.S. Code Chapter 16”
" you mean the library?"
" right, but I very naturally refer to the library by its legal code designation: 20 U.S. Code Chapter 16"
pffhaha, come on!
“pointed out that you absolutely do pay tax”
arguing against a point nobody made, for unknown reasons.
“just not to the US, you pay to the government in the country where you’re living.”
this is largely incorrect, expats usually don’t have to file taxes in the countries they travel in because of #2
it sounds like you’re trying to talk about permanent residency abroad, which is a. rare and unnecessary for most travelers b. a different topic c. one of the only situations in which you would pay separate federal taxes abroad and d. not some sort of prerequisite to using the FEIE.
“You said “you don’t pay tax on the first approx 125k””
this quote is incorrect, I assume as a misdirect for the topic changes.
“its not tax free, its just to the government of Australia or wherever you live instead of the US.”
this is incorrect as well, your first $125k of income is tax-free, and most people are not required to file federal income taxes in the countries they are traveling in.
sounds like you’re trying really hard to switch topics from travel tax tips to permanent immigration tax law, but you aren’t familiar enough with either term to pull it off.
quick note: the “domicile” tax you keep talking about paying to the foreign government isn’t some separate expense you file an extra tax form for while abroad, you just rent a place and the tax goes to the government in that price up front.
If you make over 125k, you can use the housing exemption(as people actually call it) to reduce your tax burden, but as with most of your misdirects, that’s very rarely applicable.
you don’t have to fill out an extra form for each place you rent a condo in.
“I also mentioned that people will pay tax on earned income under that 125k if youre in the states over 35 days, but that its prorated”
this is incorrect afaik, but maybe I dont understand the context of your nonspecific terms.
I think I know what you’re misunderstanding with the prorated feie(qualified days calculated outside of the calendar year in addition to the physical presence test I’m talking about here) but either way, you still have to be outside of the country 330 days to qualify for the FEIE.
if you point me to the source you’re paraphrasing, I’ll check for you.
especially this prorared calculation, which I have never heard of:
“(if you were one day over, or 329 if you were over by two days, etc)”
I’m very curious to learn where you got that from.
“just trying to expand and clarify on your post.”
that didn’t work, you either just repeated what I said in different words(to me!) or muddied the waters with incorrect information.
No worries.
“apparently its your area of complete expertise”
I appreciate it, but I’ll take “storied familiarity”
If you asked questions instead of making assumptions, you could have saved us all time and I could explain all those buzzwords you found properly the first time.
“just googling shit to bask in the glory of your genius”.
again, thank you, and again you can just ask questions instead of frantically searching the internet for counterpoints that don’t exist or correlations that are irrelevant to the post.
“stay cool”
ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ