Publication 54 |
2000 Tax Year |
Form 2555 & Form 2555-EZ
Form 2555 can be used to claim the foreign earned income exclusion.
It must be used to claim the foreign housing exclusion or deduction.
In some circumstances you can use Form 2555-EZ to claim the
foreign earned income exclusion.
You must attach Form 2555
to your Form 1040 or 1040X if
you claim the foreign housing exclusion or the foreign housing
deduction. If you cannot use Form 2555-EZ, you must attach Form
2555 if you claim the foreign earned income exclusion. Form 2555 shows
how you qualify for the bona fide residence test or physical presence
test, how much of your earned income is excluded, and how to figure
the amount of your allowable housing exclusion or deduction. Do not
submit Form 2555 or Form 2555-EZ by itself. See the instructions
for the forms if you are not sure about the information requested.
Form 2555-EZ
Form 2555-EZ is a form that has fewer lines than Form 2555.
You can use this form if all seven of the following apply.
- You are a U.S. citizen or a resident alien.
- Your total foreign earned income for the year is $76,000 or
less.
- All of your foreign earned income for the year is reported
on Form 1040, line 7.
- You are filing a calendar year return that covers a 12-month
period.
- You did not have any self-employment income for the
year.
- You did not have any business or moving expenses for the
year.
- You are not claiming the foreign housing exclusion or
deduction.
Form 2555
If you claim exclusion under the bona fide residence test, you
should fill out Parts II, IV, and V of Form 2555 as well as Part I. In
filling out Part II, be sure to give your visa type and the period of
your bona fide residence. Frequently, these items are overlooked.
If you claim exclusion under the physical presence test, you should
fill out Parts III, IV, and V of Form 2555 as well as Part I. When
filling out Part III, be sure to insert the beginning and ending dates
of your 12-month period and the dates of your arrivals and departures
as requested in the travel schedule.
In addition, you must fill out Part VI if you are claiming an
exclusion or deduction of foreign housing amounts. Also fill out Part
IX if you are claiming the foreign housing deduction. If you are
claiming the foreign earned income exclusion, fill out Part VII.
Finally, if you are claiming the foreign earned income exclusion, the
foreign housing exclusion, or both, fill out Part VIII.
If you and your spouse each qualify under the bona fide residence
test or the physical presence test to claim the foreign earned income
exclusion, the foreign housing exclusion, or the foreign housing
deduction, you must each file a separate Form 2555 to claim
these benefits. See the discussion earlier under Married Couples
Living Apart.
Illustrated Example
Jim and Judy Adams are married and have two dependent children.
They are both U.S. citizens and they file a joint U.S. income tax
return. Each one has a tax home in a foreign country and each meets
the physical presence test for all of 2000. They both can exclude
their foreign earned income up to the limit.
Jim is a petroleum engineer. He works primarily in the Persian Gulf
region. For 2000, his salary, which was entirely from foreign sources,
amounted to $71,000. In addition, his employer provided him an annual
housing allowance of $18,000, which he used to maintain a rented
apartment at his tax home in Country X for the period he was not
working at remote drilling sites.
At various times during the year, Jim worked at remote oil drilling
sites in nearby countries. While he worked at these remote sites, his
employer provided him lodging and meals at nearby camps. Satisfactory
housing was not available on the open market near these drilling
sites, and the lodging was provided in common areas that normally
accommodated 10 or more employees and were not available to the
general public. The fair market value of the lodging he was provided
in these camps was $2,000, and the value of the meals was $1,000.
After he made an adequate accounting, Jim was reimbursed by his
employer for part of his travel expenses and other employee business
expenses. Jim had $2,500 of unreimbursed employee business expenses
for travel, meals, and lodging that were allocable to his foreign
earned income.
Because of adverse conditions in Country X, Judy and the children
lived in Paris, France, while Jim worked in the Middle East. Judy had
a job as an executive secretary with a U.S. company in Paris. Her
earnings from this job were $44,000. These earnings were subject to
French income tax.
The Adams family rented an apartment in Paris during 2000 for Judy
and the children. They paid $1,000 a month rent, including utilities,
or $12,000 for the year. The Adamses choose to treat the expenses for
the Paris apartment as those for a qualified second foreign household,
because conditions at Jim's tax home in Country X are considered to be
adverse. They include the $12,000 Paris housing expenses with Jim's
$18,000 Country X housing expenses and this results in a larger total
housing exclusion.
Jim and Judy had taxable U.S. interest and dividend income of
$7,500 for the year. The Adamses had no other income for the year and
do not itemize deductions.
The Adamses report their income, figure their foreign earned income
exclusions and foreign housing exclusion, as shown on the accompanying
filled-in forms.
First, they list their income on the front of Form 1040.
Their combined salaries, including
Jim's $18,000 housing allowance, amount to $133,000. They enter this
on line 7 and their interest and dividend income of $7,500 on lines 8a
and 9.
At this point, Jim will complete Form 2555
and Judy will complete Form
2555-EZ to figure their foreign earned income and housing
exclusions.
Jim's Form 2555.
On Jim's Form 2555, Part IV, he lists his salary on line 19, his
housing allowance on line 22e, and the fair market value of meals and
lodging provided in camps by his employer on lines 21a and 21b. The
entries on lines 21a and 21b are not shown as income on Form 1040. Jim
enters the total of these two entries on line 25 of Form 2555.
Jim combines his housing expenses, $18,000, with the qualified
expenses for the second household that he maintains for his wife and
children, $12,000, and enters total housing expenses of $30,000 on
line 28. He puts a base amount of $10,171 on line 30 and subtracts
that amount to arrive at a total foreign housing amount of $19,829 on
line 31. He figures an exclusion of $19,829 for amounts provided by
his employer on line 34.
Although Judy could claim a separate housing exclusion for the
expenses of the Paris apartment rather than combining those expenses
with Jim's housing expenses, she does not do so because she would have
to reduce her expenses by a separate base housing amount. Also, her
foreign earned income is less than the $76,000 maximum foreign earned
income exclusion, so claiming a separate housing exclusion would not
result in any tax benefit.
Jim figures his foreign earned income exclusion in Part VII of Form
2555. Because his foreign earned income minus his housing exclusion is
less than the maximum exclusion of $76,000, Jim is only entitled to
exclude $69,171 for 2000 ($89,000 - $19,829).
When Jim combines the exclusion of $69,171 with his housing
exclusion of $19,829 he comes up with a total exclusion of $89,000 in
Part VIII.
None of his unreimbursed employee business expenses are allowable
because they are all allocable to excluded income. However, the
Adamses are still entitled to the full standard deduction for a
married couple filing jointly.
Judy's Form 2555-EZ.
Judy completes a Form 2555-EZ to figure her foreign earned
income exclusion. Her foreign earned income is less than the maximum
excludable amount ($76,000). On Judy's Form 2555-EZ, Part IV,
she lists her salary on line 17. She figures an exclusion of $44,000
on line 18.
The Adamses enter their combined exclusions of $133,000 on line 21,
Form 1040. They identify this item to the left of the entry space.
Their adjusted gross income on line 33 is $7,500, their investment
income, which does not qualify for exclusion.
Form 1040, page 1 for James and Judith Adams
Form 2555, page 1 for James Adams
Form 2555, page 2 for James Adams
Form 2555, page 3 for James Adams
Form 2555-EZ, pages 1 and 2 for Judith Adams
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