Publication 516 - Introductory Material
Combat zone participants. If you were a civilian who served in a combat zone or qualified hazardous duty area in support of the U.S. Armed Forces, you
can get certain
extensions of deadlines for filing tax returns, paying taxes, filing claims for refund, and doing certain other tax-related
acts. For details, see
Publication 3, Armed Forces' Tax Guide.
Death due to terrorist or military action. U.S. income taxes are forgiven for a U.S. Government civilian employee who dies as a result of wounds or injuries incurred
while employed by the
U.S. Government. The wounds or injuries must have been caused by terrorist or military action directed against the United
States or its allies. The
taxes are forgiven for the deceased employee's tax years beginning with the year immediately before the year in which the
wounds or injury occurred
and ending with the year of death.
If the deceased government employee and the employee's spouse filed a joint return, only the decedent's part of the joint
tax liability is
forgiven.
For additional details, see Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.
If you are a U. S. citizen working for the U.S. Government, including the foreign service, and you are stationed abroad, your
income tax filing
requirements are generally the same as those for citizens and residents living in the United States. You are taxed on your
worldwide income, even
though you live and work abroad.
However, you may receive certain allowances and have certain expenses that you generally do not have while living in the United
States. This
publication explains:
-
Many of the allowances, reimbursements, and property sales you are likely to have, and whether or not you must report them
as income on
your tax return, and
-
Many of the expenses you are likely to have, such as moving expenses and foreign taxes, and whether or not you can deduct
them on your tax
return.
U.S. possessions.
This publication does not cover the rules that apply if you are stationed in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana
Islands, the Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico. That information is in Publication 570, Tax Guide for Individuals With Income
From U.S. Possessions.
Comments and suggestions.
We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.
You can write to us at the following address:
Internal Revenue Service
Individual Forms and Publications Branch
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:I
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6406
Washington, DC 20224
We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number,
including the area code, in
your correspondence.
You can email us at
*taxforms@irs.gov. (The asterisk must be included in the
address.) Please put “
Publications Comment” on the subject line. Although we cannot respond individually to each email, we do appreciate your
feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax products.
Useful Items - You may want to see:
Publication
-
54
Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
-
463
Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses
-
514
Foreign Tax Credit for Individuals
-
521
Moving Expenses
-
523
Selling Your Home
Form (and Instructions)
-
Schedule A
(Form 1040) Itemized Deductions
-
1116
Foreign Tax Credit
-
2106
Employee Business Expenses
-
2106-EZ
Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses
-
3903
Moving Expenses
-
4868
Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
-
TD F 90-22.1
Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
See How To Get Tax Help, near the end of this publication, for information about getting these publications and forms.
