US Citizens Overview

When US citizens work abroad, they may qualify for the foreign earned income exclusions. A general description of these exclusions is available on our General Questions page. This provides further links to the basic requirement to qualify as well as the specific requirements of the bona fide residence and physical presence tests. Our most requested web topic on how to count days for the exclusions is now included with our physical presence page.

Expats may be subject to a wide range of tax withholdings - from income and hypothetical tax to US FICA and foreign social taxes. Start at our Income and Social Tax Withholding page, then follow the links to your topic of interest.

When to file your expat tax return and how to request an extension of time to file are some of the most frequent emailed topics we receive. The most common questions and links to the specific IRS extension forms are on our Due Dates and Extensions page. If you need to file an extension or paper return by courier, then our IRS Addresses page may help. If you are an individual wanting to know the IRS forms and publications that expats need, then visit our Expatriate Tax Forms page for specific links.

If you are in an HR department with a limited budget but still need information on cost of living allowances, then see our Links page for where to go for publicly available information from the State Department. The various web sites for the IRS recognized per diems are described on this page as well.