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At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our banking reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the best banks, latest rates, different types of accounts, money-saving tips and more — so you can feel confident as you’re managing your money. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. All U.S. citizens face the same general income tax requirements. That means that a portion of your income, regardless of where in the world it is earned, must be paid to Uncle Sam. However, taxpayers who live abroad are granted a couple of special considerations. So are members of the military who are stationed in combat zones. Out of country
In these cases, instead of being due in April, your return must be sent to the IRS by June 15. When you do file your return, be sure to attach a statement explaining which situation qualifies you for the extension. And if you are unable to meet the June deadline, as with U.S.-based filers, you can request additional time to file. Married taxpayers who file jointly are granted the extension until June 15 if either spouse can qualify. Married taxpayers opting to file separate returns, however, must individually meet the automatic out-of-country extension requirements. Some income excluded from tax
And before you can exclude your foreign income from federal taxes, you must meet both of the following conditions: You have a tax home in a foreign country. Basically, this means the country is your regular or principal place of business, employment or post of duty. The IRS wants to be sure that you actually moved abroad to work, rather than simply traveled there periodically to earn money. And if the foreign country has income tax laws, you cannot claim to be exempt from them. You meet either the IRS’s bona fide residence or physical presence requirements. Here you must establish a genuine home in the country for a full tax year or, failing that, spend a substantial amount of time — at least 330 days — abroad earning your income. If you qualify for the foreign income exclusion, you also might be able to deduct a portion of your overseas housing costs that you incurred to meet the second income-exclusion test. Combat zone taxpayers
The last day you’re in the combat zone (or the last day the area qualifies as a combat zone), or The last day of any continuous qualified hospitalization for injury from service in the combat zone. This extension applies to members of the Armed Forces, Red Cross personnel, journalists and civilians working under the direction of the Armed Forces Your deadline also is extended by the number of days you had left to file when you entered the combat zone. For example, you normally have three and a half months (Jan. 1 to April 15) to file your tax return. You entered a combat zone on April 1. You then get to add 15 days to the 180-day extension. Related Links: Related Articles: SHARE: Bankrate.com Related Articles