Does my wife have to check the box "Worked outside the US - I worked outside the US for an employer that wasn’t the U.S. government"?

[rauldominguezs]

Last year she worked for 3 months for an US company. She traveled outside the US for work once a month, spent 3 to 4 weeks there, then came back and work in the US for 1 to 2 wks.

[ToddL · Accepted solution]

Unless she had foreign tax withheld for the time she worked overseas, do not check the box "Worked outside the US - I worked outside the US for an employer that wasn’t the U.S. government"? 

Short-term overseas work assignments for a U.S. employer do not need to be reported separately. Her earnings from those assignments should have been included on her Form W-2, with her U.S.-based income.

Exception: If the company employed her as a contractor (Form 1099-MISC) and she had unreimbursed overseas travel expenses or allowances for living expenses, she should report that income in the Foreign Earned Income and Exclusion interview of Personal > Personal Income > Less Common Income.

[rauldominguezs]

Thank you!

[ToddL]

You are very welcome!

[Jageen]

So would the answer still be "Yes" for the question, "Did you make any money outside the U.S.?"

[SusanY1]

Correct, answer this question yes to get into the parts of the TurboTax program that allow you to apply the favorable treatments to the foreign income when qualified. 

@Jageen