Hi, (forgive the sorta anonymous name)
>I (a US Citizen) live overseas and my spouse (also a US Citizen) works
>a normal job for a company here, and I'm self-employed.
>
>Filling out her taxes is relatively straight-forward, however, my
>question is about my taxes. Do I have to fill out the business forms
>as if I had my business in the US (listing all expenses and so on,
>mileage and whatever) or is it enough to say that we earned $X
>together overseas and that's the value that should be used as the >gross income? >
>Many thanks!
Just because you live and work overseas doesn't let you file your taxes different. You can claim the exclusion on Form 2555 and the tax credit on Form 1116 and you get an automatic extension to June 15 but that's about it. Except for those things, your tax return should look much as it did when you were in the US.
Lanny K. Williams, CPA Nawarat, Williams & Co., Ltd. Income Tax Services for Expatriate Americans