Publication 570
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221394If you are not excluding possession income from your U.S. tax return, follow the instructions for the specific forms you file. However, you may not qualify to claim the earned income credit
(EIC).
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221395Even if you maintain a household in one of the possessions discussed in this publication that is your main home and the home of your qualifying child, you cannot claim the earned income credit on your U.S. tax return. This credit is available only if you maintain the household in the United States or you are serving on extended active duty in the U.S. Armed
Forces.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221396U.S. military personnel stationed outside the United States on extended active duty are considered to live in the United States during that duty period for purposes of the EIC. Extended active duty means you are called or ordered to duty for an indefinite period or for a period of more than 90 days. Once you begin serving your extended active duty, you are still considered to have been on extended active duty even if you do not serve more than 90
days.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221397You will not be allowed to take deductions and credits that apply to the excluded income. The additional information you need
follows.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221398Deductions that specifically apply to your excluded possession income, such as employee business expenses, are not allowable on your U.S. income tax
return.
Deductions that do not specifically apply to any particular type of income must be divided between your excluded income from sources in the relevant possession and income from all other sources to find the part that you can deduct on your U.S. tax return. Examples of such deductions are alimony payments, the standard deduction, and certain itemized deductions (such as medical expenses, charitable contributions, real estate taxes, and mortgage interest on your
home).
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221399To find the part of a deduction that is allowable, multiply the deduction by the following fraction.
| Gross income subject to U.S. income tax | |
| Gross income from all sources (including excluded possession income)
| |
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221401Your adjusted gross income equals your gross income minus certain deductions (adjustments).
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221402Generally, expenses of a move to a possession are directly attributable to wages, salaries, and other earned income from that possession. Likewise, the expenses of a move back to the United States are generally attributable to U.S. earned
income.
If you are claiming expenses for a move to a relevant possession, how and where you will deduct the expenses depends on your status as a bona fide resident and if any of your possession income is excluded on your U.S. tax return. For more information, see
Moving expense deduction in
chapter 3 under the name of the relevant possession.
If you are claiming expenses for a move from a U.S. possession to the United States, use Form 3903 to figure your deductible expenses and enter the amount on Form 1040, line 26. For purposes of deducting moving expenses, the possessions are considered part of the United States. See Publication
521, Moving Expenses, for information about what expenses are deductible.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221403Generally, if you are reporting self-employment income on your U.S. return, you can include the deductible part of your self-employment tax on Form 1040, line 27. This is an income tax deduction only; it is not a deduction in figuring net earnings from self-employment (for self-employment tax).
However, if you are a bona fide resident of American Samoa or Puerto Rico and you exclude all of your self-employment income from gross income, you cannot take the deduction on Form 1040, line 27, because the deduction is related to excluded
income.
If only part of your self-employment income is excluded, the part of the deduction that is based on the nonexcluded income is allowed. This would happen if, for instance, you have two businesses and only the income from one of them is
excludable.
For purposes of the deduction only, figure the self-employment tax on the nonexcluded income by multiplying your total self-employment tax (from Schedule SE (Form 1040)), Self-Employment Tax) by the following fraction.
| Self-employment income subject to U.S. income tax
| |
| Total self-employment income (including excluded possession income)
| |
The result is your self-employment tax on nonexcluded income. Include the deductible part of this amount on Form 1040, line
27.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221405Do not take excluded income into account when figuring your deductible IRA
contribution.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221406The standard deduction is composed of the regular standard deduction amount and the additional standard deduction for taxpayers who are blind or age 65 or
over.
To find the amount you can claim on Form 1040, line 40, first figure your full standard deduction according to the instructions for Form 1040. Then multiply your full standard deduction by the following
fraction.
| Gross income subject to U.S. income tax | |
| Gross income from all sources (including excluded possession income)
| |
In the space above line 40, enter "Standard deduction modified due to income excluded under section 931 (if American Samoa) or 933 (if Puerto
Rico)."
| This calculation may not be the same as the one you used to determine if you need to file a U.S. tax
return. |
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221409Most itemized deductions do not apply to a particular type of income. However, itemized deductions can be divided into three
categories.
- Those that apply specifically to excluded income, such as employee business expenses, are not
deductible.
- Those that apply specifically to income subject to U.S. income tax, which might also be employee business expenses, are fully allowable under the instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized
Deductions.
- Those that do not apply to specific income must be allocated between your gross income subject to U.S. income tax and your total gross income from all
sources.
The example given later shows how to figure the deductible part of each type of
expense that is not related to specific income.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221410In 2012, you and your spouse are both under 65 and U.S. citizens who are bona fide residents of Puerto Rico during the entire tax year. You file a joint income tax return. During 2012, you earned $20,000 from Puerto Rican sources (excluded from U.S. gross income) and your spouse earned $60,000 from the U.S. Government. You have $16,000 of itemized deductions that do not apply to any specific type of income. These are medical expenses of $4,000, real estate taxes of $5,000, home mortgage interest of $6,000, and charitable contributions of $1,000 (cash contributions). You determine the amount of each deduction that you can claim on your Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions, by multiplying the deduction by the fraction shown under
Figuring the deduction, earlier under
Deductions if Possession Income is Excluded.
| Medical Expenses |
| $60,000 $80,000
| × | $4,000 | = | $3,000
(enter on line 1
of Schedule A)
| |
| Real Estate Taxes |
| $60,000 $80,000
| × | $5,000 | = | $3,750
(enter on line 6
of Schedule A)
| |
| Home Mortgage Interest |
| $60,000 $80,000
| × | $6,000 | = | $4,500
(enter on line 10 or 11 of
Schedule A)
| |
| Charitable Contributions (cash contributions)
|
| $60,000 $80,000
| × | $1,000 | = | $750
(enter on line 16 of Schedule A)
| |
Enter on Schedule A (Form 1040) only the allowable portion of each deduction.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221415Personal exemptions are allowed in full even if you are excluding possession income.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221416If you must report American Samoa or Puerto Rico source income on your U.S. tax return, you can claim a foreign tax credit for income taxes paid to the possession on that income. However, you cannot claim a foreign tax credit for taxes paid on possession income that is excluded on your U.S. tax return. The foreign tax credit is generally figured on Form 1116.
If you have income, such as U.S. Government wages, that is not excludable, and you also have possession source income that is excludable, you must figure the credit by reducing your foreign taxes paid or accrued by the taxes based on the excluded income. You make this reduction for each separate income category. To find the amount of this reduction, use the following formula for each income category.
Excluded income from possession sources less deductible expenses based on that
income | x | Tax paid or accrued to the possession | = | Reduction in foreign taxes |
Total income subject to possession tax less deductible expenses based on that income
|
Enter the amount of the reduction on Form 1116, line 12.
For more information on the foreign tax credit, see Publication
514.
taxmap/pubs/p570-016.htm#en_us_publink1000221418Jason and Lynn Reddy are U.S. citizens who were bona fide residents of Puerto Rico during all of 2012. They file a joint tax return. The following table shows their excludable and taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
| Taxable
| | Excludable
|
Jason's wages from
U.S. Government
| $25,000
| | |
Lynn's wages from Puerto Rico
corp.
| | | $15,000
|
Dividend from Puerto Rico corp. doing business in Puerto
Rico | | | 200
|
Dividend from U.S.
corp. doing business
in U.S.*
| 1,000
| | |
Totals | $26,000
| | $15,200
|
* Income from sources outside Puerto Rico is taxable. |
Jason and Lynn must file 2012 income tax returns with both Puerto Rico and the United States. They have gross income of $26,000 for U.S. tax purposes. They paid taxes to Puerto Rico of $4,000 ($3,980 on their wages and $20 on the dividend from the Puerto Rico corporation). They figure their foreign tax credit on two Forms 1116, which they must attach to their U.S. return. They fill out one Form 1116 for wages and one Form 1116 for the dividend. Jason and Lynn figure the Puerto Rico taxes on excluded income as follows.
| Wages: ($15,000 ÷ $40,000) × $3,980 = $1,493 |
| Dividend: ($200 ÷ $200) × $20 = $20 |
They enter $1,493 on Form 1116, line 12, for wages and $20 on the second Form 1116, line 12, for the
dividend.