US Taxes
It’s the least wonderful time of the year! Last week I dug into the crazy thick book of instructions sent from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to my mailbox here with love. It was the official form 1040 filing pack for overseas filers. I tore into it, and with the help of a few websites, I deconstructed the legalese into understandable instructions. Last Thursday I mailed off my long-form 1040 form (this is THE form, for those who don’t know), with an attached 2555-EZ (declaration and exclusion of foreign-earned income) form, and I even included – just for kicks – a copy of Worksheet 4-1 from page 30 of Publication 970 to show how I arrived at the amount of student loan interest that I deducted. I also provided proof of interest I earned on investments, and made it really neat and easy to understand. Of course, this was completely unnecessary, because the full amount I earned with no deductions is still not taxed. Gotta love it. I made copies of everything for my files, too. Anyway, I posted it with a tracking number and had my polite Japanese complemented at the post office. Cool. And yes, I filed “early” for an overseas filer. Just by living over here, I get an extra 2 months to do taxes. And I suppose I could have dropped a 4868 on them. But why not do it now? Besides, I love knocking down that phone book size packet into one nice little envelope. Ha ha.
Now…here’s my one unresolved thing…do I need to refile a new 8802 and the subsequent 6166 (available after application is reviewed) for US Residency Certification to shield from Japanese taxation on my second year here? Third year is taxed on the Japanese side under the agreement between the USA and Japan, regardless. So…any ideas? Thanks!
