6 ms·
Stupid question: in all of those calculators, I never know if I should include my personal income or household income (including my spouse). Is it an obvious th
by eranation 9y ago
Stupid question: in all of those calculators, I never know if I should include my personal income or household income (including my spouse). Is it an obvious thing that everyone knows? as it's never in the (?) tooltip... in any calculator I found online (I'm an expat, so perhaps I just don't get the obvious)
- gnicholas 9y agoIf you file jointly as a married couple, you would include both. But if your spouse is a not a US taxpayer, then you'e likely not filing jointly. In that case, only your income would apply. But take any of these with a huge grain of salt, because expats have very different rules to play by, including some generous exemptions.
- hartator 9y agoExpats have generous exemptions?
- tvanantwerp 9y agoCurrently US expats can exclude up to $102,100 of foreign earned income. However, you're still required to file US taxes if you're a US citizen. Doesn't matter if you were born overseas to American parents and have never been to America; still gotta file. The US is weird like that.
- hartator 9y agoOh, I thought you meant EU expats in the US.
- gnicholas 9y agoAh, I see the misunderstanding. Although I would note that if you are not a citizen or permanent resident, then I believe your foreign-source income is not subject to US tax. So for example if you had a home in another country that you rented out, that wouldn't be taxable in the US even though it would be for a similarly-situated US citizen.
- tvanantwerp 9y agoCan't promise the IRS would see it that way. This is just something I'm not sure about, but my wife was an immigrant to the US and they weren't shy about asking her about foreign assets.
- eranation 9y agoThanks! I meant as in - I'm an expat from a foreign country living in the US... :)
- hartator 9y agoIf you file married together, yes. If not, no.