1. Home
  2. Taxes General Forum
  3. reporting wages not on W2/foreign earned income

reporting wages not on W2/foreign earned income

Hello, I have foreign earned income that isn't on a W-2 (or any kind of document). For various reasons, it may be less costly to report it and pay income tax than to claim the foreign earned income exclusion. Since there is no documentation for the income, do I just write it on Line 7 form 1040, or do I need to also attach an explanation of where these wages came from/how the total was figured, etc? Thanks.

-------------------------------------

##-----------------------------------------------## Newsgroup Access Courtesy

formatting link
Tax and Accounting Software ForumsWeb and RSS access to your favorite newsgroup - misc.taxes.moderated - 21483 messages and counting!##-----------------------------------------------##

Reply to
leebop
Loading thread data ...

It reenforces my belief in the integrity of people when someone asks how to declare undocumented income.

The correctanswer depends on from where these wages came and what you did to earn them. They most likely belong on Schedule C and, if so, you have to pay self-employment taxes. There are some narrow exceptions, but it would be easier to respond if you would explain what did to earn the income.

As for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, you MUST: 1. live and work abroad, 2. have a tax home in a foreign country, and 3. meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test.

Thus, taxpayers residing in the United States are not eligible for the exclusion.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

My son has the same situation. I am doing his taxes and just write in the total income with payer name and address (foreign). If you are a full time foreign resident, you can claim the foreign earned income exclusion regardless of whether you have documentation or not.

Reply to
PeterL

I don't see any reason why the foreign employer has to be (or should be) identified. If the IRS wants to know, let them ask for it.

Company. I did not identify the employer, either on the 1040 or the 2555, and the IRS never asked, nor did they ask about my conversions of AU$ to USD.

No explanation is needed.

Reply to
D. Stussy

BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.