# fr-us taxes SE, etc.. confused



## kirikara (Jan 21, 2009)

So.. here we go again, I am doing taxes and I am completely confused..

I remember last year having to get a whole bunch of french paperwork to prove I was paying cotisations in France so I could avoid paying certain taxes (being selfemployed). Is that the SE taxes? 

I think i need to zero it out somewhere.. I can't totally remember. I really should start taking notes! I am using tax act (though most time I just end up filling the paperwork with the form directly in the end)

the other thing, last year I had to declare a financial account with the FBAR form or whatever that was called at the time. This year I don't meet the threshold, Can i skip filling the form? or now that I started filing it , I need to keep going?

and finally, do CAF payment (allocations logement etc...) count as income, do I need to include in my income??


----------



## kirikara (Jan 21, 2009)

ok, I think I got at least one of the answer..

"To establish that your self-employment income is subject only to foreign social security taxes and is exempt from U.S. self-employment tax, request a certificate of coverage from the appropriate agency of the foreign country. If the foreign country will not issue the certificate, you should request a statement that your income is not covered by the U.S. social security system. Request it from the U.S. Social Security Administration. Attach a photocopy of either statement to your Form 1040 each year you are exempt from U.S. self-employment tax. Also print “Exempt, see attached statement” on the line for self-employment tax."

Now, I will see what I will do for the form, no way I can get that now, from the french gov, since I closed my AE>.

Self-Employment Tax for Businesses Abroad


----------



## kirikara (Jan 21, 2009)

And fyi.. I did ask the same exact question LY regarding Se taxes.. 
all answers are here:
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/fr...s-self-employment-tax-french-ae-income-2.html

That leaves me with caf income and FBAR form questions.


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

First of all, we need to get straight where you are located at the moment. Are you in France or in the US? 

On the FBAR, if the cumulative total of your overseas (i.e. non-US) bank accounts is less than $10,000 you shouldn't have to file an FBAR at all.
Cheers,
Bev


----------



## kirikara (Jan 21, 2009)

Well right now I am back in the US.
We moved back in december.
But for year 2013, I should be considered a Us national residing abroad since we only spent about 3 weeks in the US (at least according to what they have explained me)

I don't think i will be filing an FBAR this year then since I don't meet the threshold, but I did last year and I was wondering once you start with it you have to keep going as long as you still have that same account.


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

If you meet the test for the FEIE for 2013, you should be able to simply exclude your AE revenue, and as long as you were paying into the French system as you were supposed to, you're covered by the French system on the "self employment tax" issue. 

The CAF I'm not sure of. Have seen someplace that certain government benefits are not included in gross revenues, but cannot find the citation now that it would be useful to have it.
Cheers,
Bev


----------



## kirikara (Jan 21, 2009)

When you say exclude, you mean not mention it at all, or zero out the SE tax on the form like the IRS says to do?

I realized I did not include CAF stuff in last year return, so I think i might keep going that way. In any case,it so little money ,and it would not change anything, we still would owe 0...


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

"Exclude" is the technical term for reducing to 0 using the form 2555. Tax language is tricky - at least as tricky as French! <g>

If you didn't report CAF last year, I'd keep up the "tradition." There is some argument for the non-taxability of a public benefit paid to you because you qualified for it and received it based solely on your residence in a "foreign" country. 
Cheers,
Bev


----------

