If I live in Japan and pay income tax here, will I owe anything in the USA when I move back?

Question

Have lived in japan for 3 years

Answer 1

As long as you have a salary under $75,000, you won't owe the US government anything.

Answer 2

Generally, no, you will not owe anything IF you have been paying tax in a country which has a tax treaty with the USA. I have not read every treaty, but the ones I have read are nearly the same in that you pay tax where the work is actually performed regardless where the money comes from. You do still have to file IRS Form 2555 each year with your regular 1040 form claiming exemption. The US Embassy in Japan should provide this information on their website. IRS often do embassy tours each year to provide tax help for US citizens residing abroad.

Answer 3

Federal taxes: _Probably_ not. Your income earned overseas is exempt from federal taxes as long as a) you were outside of the US for "330 days within 12 consecutive months," and b) you earned less than $80,000. Even if you didn't owe anything, you were supposed to have been filing the relevant forms (see below) with the IRS every year, though. Look at this tax guide for US citizens living abroad:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p54/ar02.html

State taxes: It depends on the state. Apparently some states don't tax income earned overseas, but some do.

Answer 4

You will have to file an income tax form for the year in which you earned salary in the US. For example, you move back to the States in December, but you get 1 paycheck from an employer here in the States. You will have to file the US income tax form. You will have to declare what you earned while residing in a foreign country. However, you probably won't have to pay taxes on that amount.

Answer 5

Well, I moved back to the U.S from Japan 3 years ago with a friend of mine. She filed taxes for a while in the United Sattes for her account in the U.S. but after a couple of times they told her to don't even bother since it was such a small amount. While in Japan she paid Japanese taxes....as mention previously U.S. and Japan have a treaty so people don't end up paying their taxes twice.

Answer 6

As a U.S. citizen you're required to record an earnings tax return each and every 365 days. you'll be able to desire to exclude a undeniable quantity of earnings earned in Japan by making use of submitting and making an election each and every 365 days. in case you nevertheless owed tax on earnings earned in Japan there could be a foreign places tax credit available.

Answer 7

No. But you need to check the conditions first. Japan and US has a tax treaty.
And also you need to check how the pension work. You can take over each country's pension payment under certain conditions.

Answer 8

Bottom line: Do you trust tax advice given to you on freakin' YAHOO ANSWERS?!?! Pay an expert for Pete's sake. Jeeesh.

Answer 9

Adam is right but I was told $80,000 was the threshold.