Daughter worked 6 months in France teaching English. She made $5,000. Does she have to claim it?

[debr1]

Daughter worked 6 months in France with a teaching English school program. She made 5000. She stated no teacher from US claimed it Does she or is it under limit?

She worked 5-6 months and made enough for rent room/food. She found things online saying she didn't make enough to put on taxes and I see some that say you do. In her community of teachers from US, they didn't. I'm confused at conflicting information.

[KrisD15]

To clarify, how was this income reported? W-2 or 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC?

Was this paid be a US employer? 

[debr1]

She didnt' get anything, she can get a letter. This job was not a US job that went overseas. It was based in France and advertised here. They paid her about a 1000 a month after they took out their taxes and that paid for her room and food. Other teachers who worked in US said they made to little to claim. I saw that but also saw conflicting things.

[MarilynG1]

Here's the Requirements for Filing for 2023.

If she earned less than $13,850,  she is not required to file (that's the Standard Deduction for a single person under 65).  She should hang on to any documentation that shows how much she earned (check stubs, bank deposits, etc.) for her records.

@debr1 

[debr1]

Thank you, I will pass it on. I think the confusion might be some work there but the company is here or they make a larger salary.

[debr1]

One more question if I may, she made just 3500.00 there in France but 15,000 here in the US. Would it still hold she doesn't have to put her French income down?

Thank you,

Debra

[LeticiaF1]

As a US citizen or national, she would have to report her worldwide income on her US tax return.  If she had income in France and in the United States and the total of both is above the filing requirements, then she will need to file a return.  See the table below to see the 20203 amounts.  

There are some other instances where she would be required to file, see the TurboTax help article below for more information:

Do I need to file a federal return this year?

@debr1 

[debr1]

Thanks, Yes, she did make over the threshold of 13,000 but when we enter the 3500, (I was wrong about 5000) it adds 200 to what she owes. I think since she paid taxes in France, there should be a way to take them into consideration. That is what I am looking at now. The section we were in just had you see if you can use exclusions but since she was under the 12 months, she couldn't.

She didn't think it would be this confusing since most of her teaching staff didn't claim it, but they were there longer than she was.

[AmyC · Accepted solution]

If she paid foreign taxes, she can claim the credit on Form 1116. She will enter the income and the tax paid to receive a credit against the US tax. See Where do I enter the foreign tax credit (Form 1116) or deduction? Rare is the person that can use the deduction with itemizing. The credit is straightforward, dollar for dollar against the tax liability.

@debr1 

[debr1]

Thank you, I'll pass this on to her and we or she can look at it this weekend. I wonder if it's very much considering she didn't make much but worth seeing how it effects taxes. Thank you for the input and explanation. These areas of TT are new since we usually had the boring W2's and Interest etc. : )