# Filing US expat taxes with extra freelance income



## scaj2019 (9 mo ago)

Hi all

Hoping someone can help me with a tax question that I'm sure has been asked here before, but I can't find it, so apologies if I'm duplicating.

I've been resident outside the US for years and have always been employed/paid by a company here, so my income reporting to the US was always straightforward.

Last year I did a few months of freelancing on the side for the first time. Can anyone tell me where/how I report this on my US expat taxes this year? I don't have any deductions, and I'm not a sole trader/limited company. I'm thinking that since it's US taxes, this is probably more complicated than I think, but not sure where to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

It boils down to the question....

What was the nature of the commercial arrangement you operated while freelancing? I assume that you got paid for your work so there must have been some form of contractual relationship in place.

The answer to that question will help determine whether or not you can just treat it as wages, or whether you should treat it as self employment income.

Who had behavioural control - ie the right to direct and control what work was accomplished, and how it was done
Who had financial control - ie the right to direct or control the financial aspects of the job (including tools, facilities, how you were paid, etc)
What was the nature of the contractual relationship and what sort or services were provided..

If you were being paid as if you were a casual employee with relevant income taxes etc withheld, then it sounds more like an employee-employer relationship - report it as wages
If they were paying you and you were responsible for relevant income taxes NI etc, then it sounds more like an employee-employer relationship - report it as self employment income

There is a totalisation agreement in place, so I would assume you do not have to worry about self-employment taxes that would come about

If this was a once off, and the sums are small, I would probably just report it as wages (particularly if any one or more of the points of control were with your client(s).)

Remember that just because a contract says you are an independent contractor doesn't mean that a tax office would see it the same way.


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## MyExpatTaxes (10 mo ago)

Freelancing income would to to Schedule C. The expat issue here is if you can exempt yourself from US self-employment tax (Schedule SE) and if you need to then use Form 8858 (normally we say this is for those with an ongoing self-employment role abroad). Our tax software does help you figure this all out quickly. Hope that helps!


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## scaj2019 (9 mo ago)

Thank you for your reply @Moulard, appreciate the advice and you taking the time to reply.


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