 Excluding
offshore earnings from tax
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 Dear
Tax Talk,
I'm writing regarding the $80,000 that U.S. citizens are allowed
to earn offshore before they are taxed. If a person owns a company
offshore and works for that company but does not have any income
tax due in that country as an employee; or does not file and pay
income tax in the foreign country even if he might owe income tax
in the foreign country, does this have an effect on the U.S. foreign-earned
income exclusion?
Who can you recommend for doing tax returns for people living offshore
and also U.S. corporation returns? -- James
 Dear
James,
I usually recommend myself when it comes to accounting
and tax matters. It's better for business that way. A U.S. citizen
or resident can exclude up to $80,000 in wages earned in a foreign
country. This means that the person actually has to live in the
foreign country and earn the wages for work performed in that country.
To claim the exclusion, a citizen can either be a bona fide resident
of that foreign country or spend more than 330 days in 12 months
outside the United States. However, U.S. residents only qualify
under the 330-day rule.
If you qualify as a bona fide resident, you can spend
more than 35 days in the United States, provided you maintain your
residence in that foreign country. To qualify as a bona fide resident,
you actually have to be living in that foreign country on a more-permanent
basis, and you actually have to live there for a whole tax year
to qualify. For example, if you move now, you wouldn't be a bona
fide resident until tax year 2006. You could only get a partial
exclusion for 2005 based on the 330-day rule. In addition, the rules
state:
An individual with earned income from sources within
a foreign country is not a bona fide resident of that country if:
(1) The individual claims to be a nonresident of that
foreign country in a statement submitted to the authorities of that
country.
(2) And the earned income of the individual is not subject, by reason
of nonresidency in the foreign country, to the income tax of that
country.
For example, if on the immigration forms you
are asked your country of residence, you would have to say that
country, not the United States. The fact that you don't pay taxes
in and of itself is not detrimental to the exclusion. For example,
if you say you're a resident, but you ignore your filing obligations,
you could still be considered a bona fide resident.
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