I live in France and will be claiming business expenses there (I'm self-employed). Can I claim them in my US taxes as well?

[DS30 · Accepted solution]

Yes you will be allowed to claim any business expenses that are considered "ordinary" and "necessary" for you self-employment business on your US income tax return even if you also claim these expenses in France.

Please refer to this IRS link for more information about Business Expenses

Additionally, you will want to go into the foreign earned income section if you are trying to claim a Foreign Earned Income Exclusion on your foreign sourced self-employment income. You will need to enter your net self employment amount as your foreign source earned income and if you qualify, this income can be excluded and a Form 2555 will be included with your tax filing. (Although the foreign earned income exclusion will not exclude your foreign sourced self-employment income from self-employment taxes.)

If you are not eligible for the exclusion, make sure to delete your foreign earned income entry so you are not double taxed on your net self-employment income.

You also have the choice to claim a Foreign Tax Credit instead of the foreign earned income exclusion if you paid foreign taxes on your foreign self-employment income.