Taxes for international EMS

[ExpatMedic0]

Can any of you international EMS contractors offer some helpful information or links regarding U.S. Paramedics working abroad? What if you come back to the u.s. in the middle of a calendar year and or tax year but you have been away for 365 days?

1. The way I understand it is that you have to be outside of the U.S. for 1 year(excluding up to 30 days of visiting) in order to be eligible for the earnings to be tax free. Does it matter where you fall in the tax year or calendar year so long as your out of the U.S. for 1 continuous year? Example would be If I am working in the middle east from July2010-July2011 and return to the U.S. July 2011, am I taxed on any of those earnings?

2.If I do return to the U.S. for any period of time exceeding 30 days after being away for 1 year but go back to work overseas and am out of the country again for another 1 continues year, will this effect the current or previous years tax free eligibility? Example would be if after 1 year I come back to the U.S. in July2011 and remain in the U.S. for several months then pick up another contract back in the middle east for 1 year... am I still tax free?

3. Do any of you who have done this have any other helpful hints regarding this topic? Maybe I should have an H+R block handle this or a tax attorney?

 

[WTEngel]

schulzy! Wire me $1000.00 USD and I will take care of everything...no questions asked....you'll never hear from me or the IRS again! Promise!

If you're interested in that deal, I also have a bridge I'd like to sell you...

In all seriousness, I just got done doing my taxes. If you are out of the country for 335 full days total out of 365 (no matter what order, you can take 30 days in the middle, end, multiple increments, whatever) then you qualify for up to around 92,000 dollars of tax exempt foreign income. I know you won't come close to this number. So no worries on amount...

Now, depending on when it was that you were out of country, you need to choose how to file. Guys like AJ, Dan and me came early enough in the year to file for the calendar year and still meet the 335 day criteria. You, Aaron, etc. did not. What this mean is you will have to file non year to year, which is a little more complicated, but no issue. You will have to file for everything you earned while in the US up to the date you deployed to Saudi. Then you wait 365 days and file return for that one year period, which should include all you foreign time. You can continue to file non year to year on that same schedule as long as it is convenient for you. Basically as long as there is not more than one full year between the return you are filing and the last return you filed, I am pretty sure you are ok.

I am not sure how it works if you have a vacation period of more than 30 days at home between contracts, but since you likely won't have any income during that time, the only thing that muddies the waters is you dates. I know there is a way to report this and not get hit, I'm just not a CPA or tax attorney.

Now, keep in mind, this is all my understanding based on what my CPA told me. I might have misunderstood a few items or some of the minutiae, but essentially I think this is the case.

My guy is pretty good. He is a personal friend and allows you to upload all of your forms to his website, so you don't physically have to be present for any of it. If you want me to put you guys in touch, or if any of the guys over there want some help, let me know...he will do you right.

Keep your head down blanco seis Romero!

 

[ExpatMedic0]

Hey man,
Thanks for the reply and good to hear from you. Is there any charge to exchange a couple emails with your man? Do you have an email for him?

- Blano Sies Ramero