USC, foreign earned income exclusion

jmv55555 · Post by **jmv55555** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:58 am

Hi,

I'm a USC and will begin working in Canada full-time starting in August. Since I won't be in Canada for whole year in 2012, I can't claim the foreign earned income exclusion for that year. However, can I get those taxes back when I file my 2013 taxes, since I can prove that the period Aug-Dec 2012 ended up being the first 5 months of a year-long stay in Canada?

Thanks!

MSS1976 · Post by **MSS1976** » Fri May 04, 2012 3:16 am

Yes. The IRS's guide for overseas US citizens explicit states that you can. In fact, the guide even specifies ways of using the deadline extensions for this purpose. (note: I'm not a tax expert. However, I believe this is fairly straightforward.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Fri May 04, 2012 10:39 am

Not on your 2013 taxes, but by prorating the exclusion by the number of days out of US for 2012 on your 2012 return.

Example, you leave on Sept 1, 2012 and remain in Canada for the rest of year. You would get to exclude up to 1/3 of the annual exemption limit for 2012. You could only do this when you met the physical presence test (some time in Aug/sep 2013) as was mentioned.

For 2013, you would be using the bone fide tax home test for the whole year.

jmv55555 · Post by **jmv55555** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:06 pm

even better. thanks!