Publication 520 |
2001 Tax Year |
Individuals Abroad
For the most part, U.S. scholars and teachers abroad are taxed like
those living in the United States. You determine the tax treatment of
a scholarship or fellowship under the rules discussed earlier. A
payment for services, such as teaching or lecturing, is taxable. This
includes cash paid to you for transportation expenses and the value of
transportation provided by the grantor.
If your scholarship or fellowship is taxable, special rules apply
to :
- Reporting income,
- Deducting expenses,
- Paying U.S. income tax, and
- Paying foreign taxes.
Reporting Income
You must report all income on a U.S. federal income tax return in
U.S. dollars. If part or all of your income is in foreign currency,
you must report this income in U.S. dollars at the rates of exchange
in effect when you received the income. You should use the rate that
most nearly reflects the value of the foreign currency--the
official rate, the open market rate, or any other appropriate rate.
You must be able to justify the rate you use.
A special rule applies if the income is paid in nonconvertible
foreign currency. See Blocked Income, later.
Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
You may be able to exclude foreign earned income from your gross
income if your tax home is in a foreign country and you are:
- A U.S. citizen and a bona fide resident of a foreign country
or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax
year,
- A U.S. resident alien who is a citizen or national of a
country with which the United States has an income tax treaty in
effect and who is a bona fide resident of a foreign country or
countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax
year, or
- A U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien and are physically
present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days
in 12 consecutive months.
In addition, you may qualify to exclude or deduct a foreign housing
amount.
Tax home.
Your tax home is the general area of your main place of business,
employment, or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your
family home. Your tax home is the place where you permanently or
indefinitely work. You are not considered to have a tax home in a
foreign country for any period in which your abode is in the United
States. Your abode can be your home, habitation, residence, domicile,
or place of dwelling. If your tax home remains in the United States
while you are abroad, you will not qualify for the foreign earned
income or housing exclusions or the foreign housing deduction. But you
may be able to deduct your away-from-home expenses (for travel, meals,
and lodging). See Deducting Expenses, later.
More information.
For more information on tax home, the foreign earned income
exclusion, and the foreign housing exclusion and deduction, see
Publication 54.
Blocked Income
There may be cases in which a scholarship or fellowship grant is
made in a foreign currency that is not convertible into U.S. dollars
or into other money or property that is convertible into U.S. dollars
because of:
- Restrictions imposed by the foreign country,
- An agreement with the United States, or
- The terms and conditions of the U.S. Government
grant.
This nonconvertible income is commonly called blocked or
deferrable income.
How to report.
There are two ways to report blocked income:
- Report the income and pay your federal income tax with U.S.
dollars that you have in the United States or in some other country,
or
- Defer reporting the income until it becomes unblocked. Any
expenses related to the income must also be deferred.
Defer reporting.
If you choose to defer reporting the income, you must file with
your federal income tax return an information return on a separate
Form 1040 labeled "Report of Deferrable Foreign Income, pursuant to
Rev. Rul. 74-351." You must declare on the information return
that you will include the blocked income in your gross income when it
becomes unblocked. You also must state that you give up any right to
claim that any part of the blocked income was includable in income for
any earlier year.
All amounts reported on the information return must be reported in
the foreign currency involved. If you have blocked income from more
than one foreign country, include a separate information return for
each country.
Your choice to defer reporting income cannot be changed without the
consent of the IRS. Use Form 3115, Application for Change in
Accounting Method, to request a change.
Income becomes unblocked and reportable for tax purposes when any
of the following happen.
- It becomes convertible.
- It is converted into dollars or into other money or property
that is convertible into U.S. dollars.
- You use blocked income for your nondeductible personal
expenses.
- You dispose of it by gift, bequest, or devise.
Deducting Expenses
If your grant for lecturing or teaching abroad is wholly taxable,
you can deduct your ordinary and necessary business expenses. Ordinary
and necessary business expenses include your away-from-home expenses
(travel, meals, and lodging) if you are temporarily away from your tax
home in the United States. Your expenses do not include the expenses
of anyone accompanying you. Generally, you are considered to be
temporarily away from your tax home if you expect your stay abroad to
last, and it does last, for one year or less. For details about these
expenses, including whether your stay is temporary, see Publication 463,
Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses.
Payment of Foreign Taxes
The United States has income tax treaties with certain countries.
Under these treaties, the citizens and residents of the United States
are exempt from foreign income taxes on certain amounts received while
they are temporarily in a treaty country. The kinds of income that may
be exempt by treaties include:
- Certain pay for personal services performed by a U.S.
citizen or resident temporarily present in a treaty country,
- Wages of U.S. professors, teachers, and researchers who
teach or do research in a treaty country, and
- Certain remittances, grants, allowances, and awards received
by U.S. students, apprentices, and trainees who are studying in a
treaty country.
For more information on these tax treaty provisions, get
Publication 901.
Although Publication 901
is written for foreign
nationals receiving income from U.S. sources, treaty provisions are
generally reciprocal, applying equally to U.S. citizens or residents
deriving income from foreign sources.
Payment of U.S. Income Tax
You must pay any income tax due with U.S. dollars. This rule may
not apply to the tax on a Fulbright grant that was paid in
nonconvertible foreign currency, as explained later.
Formula to Determine Estimated Tax That May Be Paid in a Nonconvertible Foreign Currency
Credit or deduction for foreign taxes paid.
If income taxes are imposed on you by a foreign country, you may be
entitled to take either a tax credit or a tax deduction on your U.S.
income tax return. Usually, it is to your advantage to claim the
credit, which you subtract directly from your U.S. tax liability. Get
Publication 514.
Payment of Tax by Fulbright Grantees
As explained earlier, all income must be reported in U.S. dollars.
In most cases, the tax must also be paid in U.S. dollars. If, however,
at least 70% of your entire Fulbright grant has been paid in
nonconvertible foreign currency (blocked income), you can use that
currency to pay the U.S. tax, but only the part that is on the blocked
income.
Paying U.S. tax in foreign currency.
To qualify for this method of payment, you must prepare a statement
that shows the following information.
- You were a Fulbright grantee and were paid in nonconvertible
foreign currency.
- The total grant you received during the year and the amount
you received in nonconvertible foreign currency.
- At least 70% of the grant was paid in nonconvertible foreign
currency.
The statement must be certified by the U.S. educational
foundation or commission paying the grant or other person having
control of grant payments to you.
You should prepare at least two copies of this statement. Attach
one copy to your Form 1040 and keep the other copy for identification
purposes when you make a tax deposit of nonconvertible foreign
currency.
Figuring actual tax.
When you prepare your income tax return, you may owe tax or the
entire liability may have been satisfied with your estimated tax
payments. If you owe tax, figure the part due to (and payable in) the
nonconvertible foreign currency by using the formula in Table 3.
- Substitute actual amounts for estimated amounts.
- Subtract estimated tax payments from the part of your actual
tax payable in nonconvertible foreign currency.
You must attach all of the following to the return.
- A copy of the certified statement discussed earlier.
- A detailed statement showing the allocation of tax
attributable to amounts received in foreign currency and the rates of
exchange used in determining your tax liability in U.S.
dollars.
- The original deposit receipt for any balance of tax due that
you paid in nonconvertible foreign currency.
Figuring estimated tax on nonconvertible foreign currency.
If you are liable for estimated tax (discussed later), figure the
amount you can pay to IRS in nonconvertible foreign currency using the
formula in Table 3.
If you must pay your host country income tax on your grant,
subtract any estimated foreign tax credit that applies to your grant
from the estimated tax on the blocked income.
Deposit of foreign currency with disbursing officer.
Once you have determined the amount of the actual tax or estimated
tax that you can pay in nonconvertible foreign currency, deposit that
amount with the disbursing officer of the Department of State in the
foreign country in which the foundation or commission paying the grant
is located.
Estimated tax installments.
You may either deposit the full estimated tax amount before the
first installment due date or make four equal payments before the
installment due dates. See When to pay estimated tax,
later. If any of these dates falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or
legal holiday, the due date is the following business day.
Deposit receipt.
Upon accepting the foreign currency, the disbursing officer will
give you a receipt in duplicate. The original of this receipt (showing
the amount of foreign currency deposited and its equivalent in U.S.
dollars) should be attached to your Form 1040 or payment voucher from
1040-ES. Keep the copy for your records. Mail the return or your
payment voucher to the Internal Revenue Service Center, Philadelphia,
PA 19255-0002, U.S.A. Allow enough time for the receipt to be
received by the due date for your return or for the payment of
estimated tax.
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