How can someone working abroad file US taxes?

There are something like 2 or 3 million Americans working overseas. ?Generally, they all have to file US tax returns. ?There are two provisions in the US tax law that reduce or eliminate how much taxes you'll have to pay. First is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. ?Basically, you don't have to pay taxes on the first $100,000 you make as a resident of a foreign country. ?YOU STILL HAVE TO FILE YOUR RETURN and YOU HAVE TO REPORT ANY FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNTS. ?The penalties for non-filing are EXTREME. ?Right now is a good time because with Russia attacking in Europe and Muslims attacking everywhere else, the US dollar is high so $100,000 US covers a lot of ringgets, euros and yen these days (warning: with an election coming up a new president who cares about foreign policy more than special interests bucks might try to strengthen human rights and democracy throughout the world - on the other hand Hillary is running so special interests are looking forward to another eight years). The second is the Foreign Tax Credit. ?If you make more than US$100,000. ?You get credit against your US taxes for foreign income taxes. ?The US has the highest tax rates in the world but since you get a $100,000 credit it means you'll be taxed in, say France on your whole $150,000 income but your US tax will only be on $50,000, ?So, you'll probably not pay any US taxes until you make about $200,000 or so. ? It's 2015, with the internet it's easy to find a US accountant who'll do your taxes and communicate online.

You will continue to file US tax returns. The US will allow you to earn a substantial amount of income abroad free of any US income tax (I believe around $80,000 per year). It will also give you a credit for any income that would be subject to a double tax. Therefore, for example, if you get $100 in interest income where you are living, and the US tax would be $15, if the foreign tax is $20, you would pay nothing on that. If the foreign tax would be $12, then the US tax would be reduced to $3, so that your total would only be the $15. You get an automatic 2 extra months to file if you are abroad on April 15, but be sure to file your returns, even if no tax is due, because some of these tax benefits are only available if you file. You can continue to file your own returns (which I advise against, especially for the first year or two), you can continue to use your current accountant (which I recommend only if he has experience with this sort of thing), you can hire an accountant there who prepare US tax returns (depending on where you are going, this might be easy or very difficult to find), or you can contact me.