Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Not Working - when I complete this section, it says my income is eligible, but there is NO change to my taxes and $0 in the summary.

I am using a Mac, so this should be the most current version.

JohnH2
New Member

Deductions & credits

With a significant foreign earned income exclusion, you may see no change in your taxes if all the taxes paid are being refunded.  The best way to trouble shoot this condition in the on-line system is to use the “Preview My 1040” feature.  You can check to see if Line 21, Form 1040 is showing a negative number with the explanation referring to Form 2555. Form 2555 supports the calculation of the exclusion. 

You can see your Form 1040 in process in the on-line system with the following menu path:

  1. My Account
  2. Tools
  3. View Tax Summary
  4. Preview My 1040 (Menu choice at top of screen)

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js8
New Member

Deductions & credits

trying to delete comment
js8
New Member

Deductions & credits

trying to delete comment

Deductions & credits

I'm having this exact problem right now.

It doesn't seem like the posted answer to this original question is really a solution...more of a troubleshooting tip. I follwed it but found that while other schedules were attached (included), neither Schedule SE nor Form 2555 was part of the preview.

Line 15 shows 0 for taxable income, yet the system has calculated 14% SE tax on my W-2 income, the same income that is exempt under Form 2555.

Could this topic please be re-opened? It does not seem solved to me.

RobertB4444
Expert Alumni

Deductions & credits

Your W2 income should have social security and medicare already withheld.  So it should not trigger any SE tax.  If it is a 1099 and showing as self-employment income then the foreign earned income exclusion would exempt you from income taxes but not SE tax.  The alternative would be to use the foreign tax credit if you are paying taxes in a foreign country and then your foreign taxes can be applied to your SE tax as well.

 

@noahprophet 

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