Why is my foreign earned income not reported on Line 7 (Wages, Salaries and tips ) on my 1040 form as FEC ?

[tania3559]

I filled out the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion form excluding all my income earned outside the US, but when reviewing my return it says I can not e-file because lines 7b Total Income has a 0 value.

[pk]

@tania3559 , we cannot see your forms and so must have more information to understand  what went wrong ---

(a) are you US citizen/Resident ( green Card );  (b) is this your first year of foreign earned income exclusion;  (c)  when did you arrive at the foreign country ( i.e. when did you  establish foreign tax home );  (d) which country are  you in  and which country  did you earn in 2019;  ( e) are you using on-line version or desktop version of the software; (f) did you have to pay taxes to the foreign country;  (g)  what was the test period  ( the 12 months  that is used ) on form 2555 -- the one that qualifies you for foreign earned  income exclusion;  (h) is this self-employed income or is it wages  from a local entity in that foreign country  --- please answer these questions -- thank you 

[tania3559]

Hi, 

(a) I am US Citizen, (b) This is my first year filing for foreign earned income exclusion, (c) I arrived on 26th September 1993 and I am still living here, (d) I live in Trinidad & Tobago and I also worked in this country for the entire year for 2019, (e) I am using Turbo Tax Deluxe online version, (f) Yes I am required to pay Taxes to the foreign country, (g) I used the Bona Fide Residence test and qualified to exclude my income as my Tax home was in a foreign country for 365 days, (h) This is wages from a local entity in the foreign country,not self employed.  After answering the questions for form 2555 I was able to exclude all my foreign income, but it is not showing up in Line 7 as Total Income on my 1040 form and remains blank. Do I need to add the foreign income as Foreign Employer Compensation for it to show up as FEC on line 7?  if so how do I add this ?

[pk]

@tania3559 ,  thank you for your answers to my questions -- from your post it appears you should be able to satisfy the  foreign tax home  ( form 2555  ) and exclude your foreign earned income from US taxes.

Generally how I enter the  foreign wages is as follows ---  under personal income, ; select "I will choose  what I work on", then from the  next screen  (list of  income categories ) ,  go all down to the bottom -- under  category head " Less Common Income", you will find  Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion " , select this on the right  and this should take you to -->  What form was Foreign Income  reported on  --- follow through  the next few screens entering / answering  questions and you should see the final income ( wages  appear on line 7 of the form 1040 ) and  a subtraction amount  ( of the  excluded amount ) on line 7a  ( this comes via schedule-1, line 9 ).

Are you not seeing this?

How did you enter the  income?

Another item to note --- if you have declared that you are a resident to your host country  (  Tobago, Trinidad ) then  yes you should file as   bona-fide resident -- but this requires IRS approval.  Most ExPats, that I know  use the Physical Presence Test -- 330 days away from the USA in any  12 months  ( the test period ) -- it is just that in this case you have to meet the  test every year  where as for  bona-fide  resident , once approved by the IRS, you do not have  to pass any test again.

 I await your answer  ( entry of the income ) -- because there is something different -- I cannot  replicate your  situation and need help

[3366817166]

Where  is foreign earned income entered in Turbo Tax?

[HopeS]

Here's how to enter your foreign income:

1. Sign in to TurboTax and open or continue your return
2. Search for foreign income
3. Select the Jump to link in the search results
4. Answer Yes to Did You Make Any Money Outside the United States? and follow the onscreen instructions

Below is additional helpful information :

Foreign Earned Income