



















Protax Consulting Services
Seven Penn Plaza, Suite 816
New York, NY 10001
Tel 212.714.9070
Fax 212.714.6654
protax@protaxconsulting.com
www.protaxconsulting.com
Contact Us for U.S. International Individual Tax wherever
you are, wherever you go
Download our FREE apps
OUR SERVICES
OUR FIRM,
OUR PEOPLE
Home » U.S. Expatriate Taxes » I Don't Think I'm Actually an Expat. Do I Need to File?
I Don’t Think I’m Actually an Expat. Do I Need to File?
Q&A: I don’t think I’m actually an expat. Do I need to file?
Q: Hi, I’m American but I live in the Netherlands and am married to a Dutch citizen. I am not an expat, as I’m on a highly skilled migrant visa and I work for a Dutch company, earning euros. I’ve been told that I need to file a tax return in the US– can you advise?
A: Because you are a US citizen living and working abroad, you are an expat. Let me qualify that – by our definition you are an expat!
All US citizens are required to report their worldwide income each year. You do have to file.
Based on what your question it looks like you will have to file Married Filing Separate instead of Married Filing Joint. If your husband is a non-resident alien with no exposure to the US then you must file MFS.
There’s good news, though: the IRS provides two tools to help reduce, or eliminate, double taxation. The first is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, which if you qualify, allows you to exclude up to $91,500 for the 2010 tax year. The second tool is the Foreign Tax Credit. This, potentially, gives you a dollar-for-dollar credit against your US taxes for taxes paid to foreign country.
It is more complex than that and various factors can determine the outcome. But, that is the gist of it.
Search
Categories
- 2024 Tax Season
- 2023 Tax Season
- 2022 Tax Season
- 2021 Tax Season
- 2020 Tax Season
- 2019 Tax Season
- 2018 Tax Season
- 2017 Tax Season
- 2016 Tax Season
- 2015 Tax Season
- 2014 Tax Season
- 2013 Tax Season
- 2012 Tax Season
- 2011 Tax Season
- Country Resource Guides for U.S. Expats | Protax
- Expatriation
- Firm
- Foreign National-Nonresident Aliens
- U.S. Expatriate Taxes
- Journals, Publications & More Information
- Adoption
- Affordable Care Act (ACA)
- Amended Filings
- AMT
- Awards/Out of Court
- Bartering
- Businesses
- Capital Gains & Losses
- Casualty Losses
- Changing Your Name
- Charitable Giving
- Child and Dependent Care
- Child Tax Credit
- CPA Profession
- Cryptocurrency
- Dependent Children’s Income
- Dependents and Exemptions
- Divorce/Separation
- Do You Owe the IRS Money?
- DOMA and Same-Sex Marriages
- Education Tax Credit & Deductions
- Educator Expenses
- Electric Motor Vehicle Credits
- Employee or Independent Contractor?
- FBAR & Form 8938 FFA
- Filing Status
- FinCEN
- Foreign Tax Credit
- Foreign Trusts
- Gambling, Winnings & Losses
- Getting Married
- Hobby Losses
- Home Office Deduction
- ID Theft and Data Breaches
- IRS Criminal Investigation
- IRS News
- Itemized Tax Deductions
- ITINs
- Job Search Expenses
- Like Kind 1031 Exchanges
- Medical & Dental
- Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief
- Moving Expenses
- National Taxpayer Advocate Services
- Net Investment Income Tax
- Paying Your Taxes
- Penalties for Late Filing & Late Payment
- Phony Scams & Phishing Emails
- Renting Vacation Home
- Residential Energy Credits
- Retirement
- Safekeeping Your Records
- Sailing Permits
- Sale of Principal Residence
- Self-Employed
- Social Security
- State Tax
- Statutory Limit on Refunds
- Streamlined
- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – 2017
- Taxable & Nontaxable Income
- Taxpayer Bill of Rights