AMERICAN CITIZENS ABROAD (ACA)

http://www.aca.ch/

A non-profit association dedicated to serving and defending the interests of individual US citizens world-wide.

News from ACA -- mid-November 1998 -- issue 48

(to return to the index, click here)

This is an archive, links may not work.

US TAX IMPLICATIONS OF SHORT-TERM WORK OVERSEAS

The major US tax consequence of working overseas for a year or more is that the foreign earned income exclusion applies on amounts up to $72,000 if certain residency requirements are met. However, if the stay is for less than a year, your income is possibly subject to tax and Social Security payments in both the US and the foreign country.

Income tax: Many countries do not impose tax on non-citizens if their stay in the country is for less than a specified period (usually less than 180-183 days in the tax year). You also need to know if that country has a tax treaty with the US. If is does, there will be provisions for taxation of income earned during short-term stays by US citizens/residents in that country. These provisions will override any general tax laws and may work to your advantage. If the income is foreign-source, you can take a foreign tax credit in the US against the foreign tax paid on that income (with some restrictions).
Deductible Business Expenses: One way of reducing the foreign income that is subject to US tax is to keep track of business expenses. If you are overseas temporarily (normally defined as a period of less than one year), the IRS will consider your "away-from-home" expenses (for travel, meals and lodging) to be deductible.
Social Security and Medicare contributions: If you are working for an American employer overseas, contributions to Social Security and Medicare should continue to be made by that employer. If you are self-employed, you are responsible for making the contributions whether you work in the US, or are overseas temporarily or indefinitely. If your employer is not American, neither of you is required to make contributions in the US. However, if you are living in one of the seventeen countries with which the US has a Binational Social Security Agreement, you work temporarily in one of those countries and your pay would otherwise be subjected to social security taxes in both countries, you generally would remain covered by US social security only. The countries the US has agreements with are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

(This information was supplied by Jane Bruno, tax attorney and consultant in the Washington DC area. She is the author of The Expat's Guide to U.S. Taxes. If you have comments or concerns on any aspect of your US tax situation, you may contact her at: akljr@erols.com or visit her web site at: http://www.expatexchange.com/brunotaxservice/)

A GLOBAL ASSET: US-SPONSORED ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY SCHOOLS OVERSEAS

says a US State Department fact sheet. Most children of military personnel overseas attend schools established and operated by the US Department of Defense, and some civilian government agency and private-sector children also attend these schools on a space-available, tuition-paying basis. However, most civilian agency dependents abroad attend non-government, coeducational, independent schools of various kinds. Although these schools include those founded by US companies, church organizations, and individual proprietors, most of them are nonprofit, nondenominational, independent schools established on a cooperative basis by American citizens residing in foreign communities.

Many of these schools have received assistance and support from the US government under a program administered by the Office of Overseas Schools of the US Department of State. These schools constitute the so-called "American-sponsored" schools as described in the Fact Sheet. Variety is one of their basic characteristics. They range from tiny schools, such as the Bishkek International School in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, with five pupils, to large overseas schools, like the Jakarta International School in Jakarta, Indonesia, with 2,843 students.

The schools are not operated or controlled by the US government. Ownership and policy control are typically in the hands of associations of parents of the children enrolled, who elect a school board to supervise the superintendent or chief administrator.

Tuition payments are the principal source of financing for the schools. Many schools derive additional support from gifts and contributions from US and local business firms, foundations, mission groups, individuals and local governments, and all have received some assistance from the limited funds available from the Office of Overseas Schools (almost $6 million annually).

An outstanding characteristic of most American-sponsored schools is the use they make of their location abroad to provide quality foreign language and local culture programs. The administrators and most teachers are Americans or American-trained. A portion of the American staff is hired locally, and a number of these are US government dependent spouses.

For further information contact: Dr. Keith D. Miller, Director, Office of Overseas Schools, Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-2902; Tel: +1 (703) 875-7939; Fax: +1 (703) 875-7979; email: keith.miller@dos.us-state.gov

IN MEMORY: JIM LOWENTHAL, ACA COUNTRY CONTACT IN MOROCCO

ACA is sad to announce the death of its country contact for Morocco, Mr. Jim Lowenthal who was a businessman active throughout Africa. Mr. Lowenthal's business partner, Mr. Karl Stanzick (email: karl@mtds.com, has been kind enough to offer to continue the tradition of an ACA representative in Rabat.

IDEAS IN ACTION A NEW WEB NEWSLETTER

The non-profit organization Idealist and Action Without Borders has launched a Web newsletter, Ideas In Action now in its second edition, covers resources for community project funding in Europe, has a guide for non-profit organizations on the Year 2000 computer problem (Y2K), and a listing of online data base sources for social and economic information. There is also an invitation for nominations from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for its annual Humanitarian Prize (a US$1 million award) among other items of interest to Idealists. Check out Ideas in Action at http://www.idealist.org/newsletter.html

ALL IBERIA CONFERENCE II

The second All Iberia Conference will be held 25-28 February 1999 at the Grande Hotel, Av. De Saboia, 488, 2765 Monte Estoril, Portugal. Organizers (and their contacts) for the event are:

American Women of Lisbon, (Luisa Eckroade, portbillluisa@ip.pt, phone +351-1-4867297),
American Club of Lisbon, (Gilbert Wells, justgilwelz@mial.telepac.pt, phone +351-1-7702400)
US Consul General in Lisbon, (Leslie Rowe, phone +351-1-72723354).

Please notify them of any other American clubs and/or associations, or even individuals, in Spain and Portugal who may be interested in attending.

INS FEE INCREASES

As of 13 October 1998, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has increased fees for the first time in four years. The one exception is naturalization applications, which increases its fees starting 15 January 1999. Many of the fees have more than doubled. The new fee schedule is on the Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine web site: http://www.visalaw.com/docs/

ACA WEB SITE LISTINGS AND BOOK REVIEWS

ACA periodically updates its extensive and practical Web Site listing for American citizens living abroad which you're looking at now. We also have a new service: Book Reviews on numerous publications dealing with problems the expatriate faces while living abroad. Some of the books reviewed can be bought through the leading Web book store: Amazon.com.

This edition of American Citizens Abroad's News Update was prepared by David Ferrell. It offers news and views relevant to Americans living abroad. Essential to the success of such a network is feedback and input from recipients. This News Update is, like ACA itself, of, by and for Americans abroad. ACA is staffed entirely through the efforts of volunteers, with its primary income source being modest membership fees and donations from concerned individuals. The News Update can be maintained in the long-term only if it justifies itself in terms of membership and donation revenue for the organization. for which you will be rewarded with regular (e)mailings of the News Update.
While ACA makes every effort to be accurate in the information it transmits, such information is not to be considered a substitute for specific and qualified professional advice.

If YOU would like to be become part of the dynamic all-volunteer team which powers ACA, there is constant need for additional physical and/or electronic "staff". In addition to regular VOLUNTEERS, ACA is interested in INTERNS and/or in tailoring CLASS PROJECTS aimed at awakening students to issues affecting American citizens abroad. Contact ACA's Geneva office

   American Citizens Abroad ACA 
   5 B, rue Liotard 
   CH-1202 Geneva 
   Switzerland 
   Phone & Fax numbers: 
     +41 (0)22 3400233 or +41 (0)22 3400448 
   email: acage@aca.ch 
   
   or 
                              
   American Citizens Abroad 
   1051 N. George Mason Drive 
   Arlington, VA 22205 
   USA 
   Fax +1 (703) 527-3269

Back to the top of ACA News.

This ACA page updated 1998-11-17 (International Standard Date Notation)

You are among the many visitors to this ACA page.

Access to this ACA page courtesy of Internet Prolink Geneva