How can I e-file my taxes if my employer is not an American company (no Employer ID Number) and will not provide me with a W-2?
I already reported my foreign earned income with form 2555 but this apparently cannot be filed on its own. I just keep getting the same "you're not eligible for e-filing" message and I don't understand how I can complete my tax return without a 1040.
Is there any way I can file/add information to a form 1040 without a W-2?
@ sbclau99
wrote:How can I e-file my taxes if my employer is not an American company (no Employer ID Number) and will not provide me with a W-2?
I already reported my foreign earned income with form 2555 but this apparently cannot be filed on its own. I just keep getting the same "you're not eligible for e-filing" message and I don't understand how I can complete my tax return without a 1040.
Is there any way I can file/add information to a form 1040 without a W-2?
I may be able to explain your efiling problem in a paragraph below. You may have already done the first paragraph, but I'll mention it--just in case.
Did your employer provide you "something" at all, i.e., some kind of statement that shows your wages?
You don't have to have a W-2 to efile with foreign earned income. Were these earned wages? If so, when you go through the Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion topic, for wages it will ask you if you have a W-2 or "a statement from your employer (could be cash.)" So if there's no W-2, you can choose "statement from your foreign employer" (if that correctly describes your circumstance.) Then continue with the rest of that topic.
As for efiling, you wrote: "I just keep getting the same "you're not eligible for e-filing" message."
I'll take a guess and see if this describes your situation:
You also mentioned Form 2555. Did you use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, and did you exclude ALL of your income? i.e., did you have no additional income other than the excluded foreign income? If so, that would create a zero-income return, which cannot be efiled. I'm a fellow user, not a taxperson, but here are couple of ways users in this forum have proceeded to successfully efile with that situation:
If this doesn't explain your situation, or you have additional foreign income issues, let me know, and I'll try to ask one of the forum tax experts that specializes in foreign income to assist you.
@ sbclau99
wrote:How can I e-file my taxes if my employer is not an American company (no Employer ID Number) and will not provide me with a W-2?
I already reported my foreign earned income with form 2555 but this apparently cannot be filed on its own. I just keep getting the same "you're not eligible for e-filing" message and I don't understand how I can complete my tax return without a 1040.
Is there any way I can file/add information to a form 1040 without a W-2?
I may be able to explain your efiling problem in a paragraph below. You may have already done the first paragraph, but I'll mention it--just in case.
Did your employer provide you "something" at all, i.e., some kind of statement that shows your wages?
You don't have to have a W-2 to efile with foreign earned income. Were these earned wages? If so, when you go through the Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion topic, for wages it will ask you if you have a W-2 or "a statement from your employer (could be cash.)" So if there's no W-2, you can choose "statement from your foreign employer" (if that correctly describes your circumstance.) Then continue with the rest of that topic.
As for efiling, you wrote: "I just keep getting the same "you're not eligible for e-filing" message."
I'll take a guess and see if this describes your situation:
You also mentioned Form 2555. Did you use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, and did you exclude ALL of your income? i.e., did you have no additional income other than the excluded foreign income? If so, that would create a zero-income return, which cannot be efiled. I'm a fellow user, not a taxperson, but here are couple of ways users in this forum have proceeded to successfully efile with that situation:
If this doesn't explain your situation, or you have additional foreign income issues, let me know, and I'll try to ask one of the forum tax experts that specializes in foreign income to assist you.
Hello, sorry for the late reply!
Yes, my employer provided me with an earnings statement and this was the only thing I received. My foreign earned income is the only income I've got so I guess that's why I couldn't file (since it's only form 2555 being used haha).
After your suggestion, I added like a $10 amount to the miscellaneous income section (followed the directions exactly as you provided) and this worked! I was able to move forward with e-filing so I'll be using this method whenever I file in the future. Thanks so much!