Taxes Questions and Answers

I'm an american , i've a US passport, but im not living in the USA, do i still have to pay US taxes?




Answers: Wow. A bucket load of bad advice going on here, and one that's at least on the right track.

US citizens and residents are subject to US taxation on their world-wide income from all sources regardless of where they live. That doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be paying any tax but it DOES mean that you MUST file a tax return that shows ALL income world-wide.

If you're eligible, you may claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and exclude the first $87,500 of your EARNED income from US taxes. Any income above that amount is fully taxable AND the tax rates start at the level that would have applied if it had been taxed in the first place, meaning that for most taxpayers the next dollar is taxed at 25% or 28%, not at 10% where the tax rate schedules start. The FEIE is claimed on Form 2555 or 2555-EZ.

If you're not eligible to claim the FEIE you can claim a credit for any foreign income taxes paid by completing Form 1116. You may also claim the credit instead of the FEIE if it works out better for you. This is often the case in high tax countries such as most of Europe.

There are many other tax issues that ex-pats need to be aware of. Grab a copy of IRS Pub 54 from the IRS website to get yourself started on the rules. Just ignore any straght yes or no answer. It is NOT that simple!

Note to notaperv... Inheritances are NOT taxed at the Federal level in the US. Please get your facts straight!
You certainly do. And on inheritances, too. Any income earned working or partnering with a company registered in the United States is taxable and must be reported. If you owe tax, you must pay the tax. Sad to say, the Internal Revenue Service always gets their money.

If you paid tax on foreign income, you can deduct this tax against your United States taxes, generally.

I a short time ago open a 401k surrounded by oct and own a retirement plan. do these count as 'taxable interest income?' help out!

i am trying to file 2007 taxes and i don't feel that 401k's and retirement plans are taxable but i tried using some tax calculators and they be asking me if i had a 401k etc so i get confused. this is the first year that i have a 401k...


Answers: The root your "tax calculators" asked going on for your 401k and other retirement account contributions is because you may qualify for a retirement contribution CREDIT, which will lower your overall toll burden.

If you make any impulsive withdrawals, aka distributions, from your 401k/IRA and don't roll that amount over into another qualify retirement account in 60 days (I believe that's the max time period), you'll have to wage a 'penalty' tax of 10% on that withdrawal/distribution.
No, the 401K contribution (within allowed limit) and income earn in the depiction is taxable "deferred". The tax software ask almost that for the sake of guiding you through the tax preparation process, and I am sure it will exclude the 401K portion from your export tax return.

BTW, tax is a sure item so IRS will come to you for tax against your 401K sooner or latter. What "deferred" means is that IRS will not export tax you until you start to distribute $$$ from your 401K account.
You do not hold to pay taxes on your 401(k) so long as you did not annul. But, if you are under age 59 1/2 chronologically, you will be assessed 10% of your income charge liability. It will be added to the income tax you owe. There are a intensely few exceptions wherewith the taxpayer doesn't get penalize if under age 59 1/2:

There are several exceptions to the age 59 1/2 rule. Even if you receive a distribution until that time you are age 59 1/2 , you may not have to wage the 10% additional tariff if you are in one of the following situations.

You hold unreimbursed medical expenses that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

The distributions are not more than the cost of your medical insurance.

You are disabled.

You are the beneficiary of a departed IRA owner.

You are receiving distributions within the form of an annuity.

The distributions are not more than your qualified higher schooling expenses.

You use the distributions to buy, build, or rebuild a first home.

The distribution is due to an IRS levy of the qualified plan.
The distribution is a qualified reservist distribution

The confusion may be because the software be probably asking you to figure modified in step gross income {MAGI}. IRS instructions: You can use Worksheet 1-1 to figure your modified AGI. If you made contributions to your IRA for 2007 and received a distribution from your IRA contained by 2007, see Both contributions for 2007 and distributions in 2007, after that.

Do not assume that your modified AGI is the same as your compensation. Your modified AGI may include income surrounded by addition to your compensation such as interest, dividends, and income from IRA distributions.

Form 1040. If you folder Form 1040, refigure the amount on the page 1 “adjusted gross income” line in need taking into account any of the following amounts.
IRA assumption.

Student loan interest deduction.

Tuition and fees supposition.

Domestic production activities presumption.

Foreign earned income exclusion.

Foreign housing exclusion or conclusion.

Exclusion of qualified savings bond interest shown on Form 8815, Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds Issued After 1989 (For Filers With Qualified Higher Education Expenses).

Exclusion of employer-provided adoption benefits shown on Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses.
This is your modified AGI. Source: IRS

There is a unsystematic the software asked if you invested in a traditional IRA. While in attendance are nondeductible monies and deductible monies you can put in to a traditional IRA, mostly the IRA is deductible "above the line" so long as you did not contribute too much. That is
1} over 4000 or your "taxable compensation limit, whichever is smaller number {please note, The taxable compensation check, applies whether your contributions are deductible or nondeductible}
or
2} over 5000 if you have attained your 50th birthday. If you contributed too much, you own until April 15 to withdraw your "excess contribution". Then you will not enjoy to pay 6% excise toll.
The earnings inside your 401k are not tax until they are withdrawn.

However, enter your 401k information into your return. The IRS tracks this information. It appears on your W-2 and affects your eligibility for other credits and deductions.


Answers: They aren't late until you haven't gotten them by 2/15. They only had to be mailed by 1/31, not received by then.

An employer sends out a W-2, not a 1099. The employer is more likely to get penalized for sending out the wrong form than for being a few days late.

If you are in fact a contractor, you don't need the 1099-Misc to file...you use your own records. (If the 1099-Misc was for an amount less than $600, you may or may not get one anyway.)
1099s are not for employees. W-2s are for employees.

No, the law does not state you must receive the document by January 31. It states the filer must send it out in the mail by January 31.

As January 31 is a huge due date for billions of tax documents (1099s, W-2s, 1098s, 941/940/945 reports, state sales tax, estimated tax payments and hundreds more) the postal service has been flooded with extra pieces of mail.

If you haven't received it by mid February, give them a call.

If you still haven't received it by March 7, call the IRS and file an official complaint.

The company has until the end of February to get the IRS their copies. So, the IRS won't do ANYTHING until after that date.

And the fine can be $50, but I have never seen a company who had to pay it and I have been in accounting for over 20 years.

Can my parents claim me as a dependent??

I turned 20 in September 2007, i lived next to my parents up until june 15th 2007, im not a full time college student......can they claim me as a dependent cuz they say they are going to which would suck


Answers: Since you are over 18 and not a full time student you would enjoy had to live beside them ALL year, among other requirements, for them to legally claim you. Even if you WERE a full-time student you'd enjoy to live in their home for 6 full months and you haven't met that theory test either.

So, from what you utter here, your parents may NOT claim you. And contrary to what a long-winded poster claims, you may NOT run the numbers both ways and see which benefits the family the best. The decree determines if you are a dependent, not family parley.

Claim your personal exemption. If your parents try to claim you the IRS will investigate the matter and breed a determination based upon the decree. You'll win that easily and they'll draw from a bill for additional taxes due. If you e-file and your return is rejected you'll own to mail surrounded by a paper return so it would be contained by your best interest to file first but that doesn't guarantee that they won't try to claim you.
which would what? You should do it both ways to see which is better for your ancestral. What I mean is you should input into the software your parents claiming you as a
dependent, consequently you input it with your parent's not claiming you and you claiming yourself. Fortunately, that's comfortable now within time. Also, you can do it with software that costs no more than $100. Are you supporting anyone? That vehicle you provide over 50% of their living expenses. Did you receive an "advanced earned income credit" second year? If the answer to both questions is "No", your scenario is this:

Did the company you worked for withhold any excise from you? If not, and if your State has income export tax also, you are going
to owe. There's a lot of possibilities here as far as how much, if any be withheld. How many exemptions did you claim? If you claimed "zero", and if your payroll department withheld according to IRS formulae as outlined within their publications 15 and 15-A, you may be due a refund. IRS:
You cannot claim any dependents if you, or your spouse if file jointly, could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.
You cannot claim a married personality who files a joint return as a dependent unless that integrated return is only a claim for return and there would be no levy liability for either spouse on separate returns.
You cannot claim a character as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico for some cut of the year.
You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that human being is your qualifying child or qualify relative.
If your parents provided more than 1/2 of your support (in other words, if they paid >1/2 the cost of maintain your primary residence) during the year, they may be able to claim you as a dependent. But since you be not a full-time student, and based on your age, you would most potential have have to live w/ them the entire year to be their dependent.

You said you moved out of your parents home in the middle of June (which ability you lived w/ them LESS than 6 months). If they did not continue to money for the cost of your residence, etc, through the end of June (or for any term through the end of 2007 to equal a sum > 6 months), AND you rewarded for MORE than 1/2 of your OWN support during the course of the year, they are not entitled to claim you as a dependent, regardless of your age.

Another course to look (a) it...If you had lived w/ them adjectives year, yet you still provided MORE than 1/2 your own support by scheme of paying them for rent, food, etc (i.e. - you paid for > 1/2 of the entire cost of maintain your residence), they should not be able to claim you as a dependent contained by that situation.

If you were not a full-time student, the primary factor in determining if they CAN claim you as a dependent is if they salaried for MORE THAN 1/2 of your support during the year (this is assuming you are not disabled, because that would be a different situation), and if you were 18 yrs antediluvian or younger.

If you earned income surrounded by 2007, based on the info you've provided, you can claim your personal exemption and Mom & Dad cannot claim you as a dependent. I would recommend you folder your tax return formerly your parents, if possible. But if the IRS have to make a determination on your status (assuming adjectives you stated is true), you're parents will likely be denied the dexterity to claim you.

Good luck on making it on your own.
If you attended school full-time for five months (partial months count) within 2007, or you are disabled, and you did not support yourself, then your parents can claim you.

Otherwise, they can claim you if they supported you and you did not earn $3,400 or more within 2007. The time you lived at home is irrelevant.

If neither of the above applies, they cannot claim you.

Several answers refer to the need for you to live at home adjectives year to be a dependent. This does not apply to children or other close relatives, it only applies to nonrelatives.
Nina give the correct answer. She also makes a unbelievably important point in the order of the member of household trial.

Based on your age and non-student status, you cannot meet the definition of a qualify child (QC) for your parents. To claim you, you would instead have to draw together the more difficult qualifying relative (QR) test.

Under the QR rules, there is no bough of household tests for most close relatives. If you met the other requirements to be a QR, it would be possible for your parents to claim you even if you did not live next to them at all.

As pointed out by Boston, taxpayers (except beneath very restricted circumstances) cannot simply decide among themselves who will claim who a dependent. The regulation dictates the requirements to claim someone.

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