United States Tax Residence & Foreign Income
US citizens and resident aliens generally remain within the federal worldwide-income framework while abroad; reliefs and filing obligations need separate checks.
Citizens living abroad
US citizens and resident aliens abroad generally report taxable worldwide income under the same federal framework as those living in the US.
Tax residence for non-citizens
The green-card or substantial-presence test can establish resident-alien status. The presence test weights days across three years and has exclusions and exceptions.
Relief is not automatic exemption
Foreign earned-income exclusions and foreign tax credits may help eligible taxpayers, but claiming them requires a US return and satisfying the relevant rules.
Nonresident-alien treatment
Nonresident aliens follow different source-income rules; do not apply the citizen-abroad summary merely because someone visits the US.
Foreign accounts and filing
Foreign financial accounts can trigger separate reporting. Check the IRS-linked FBAR rules and filing guidance rather than assuming no tax due means no reporting.
Scope and limitations
- No tax rates, filing thresholds, state-tax rules or individual treaty outcomes are calculated here. Multiple citizenship does not merge the tax rules of the countries involved.
Next review due . An official update can change these requirements sooner.
Official sources
- US citizens and resident aliens abroadUS Internal Revenue Service · Retrieved 2026-09-17 · EN
- Topic 851: resident and nonresident aliensUS Internal Revenue Service · Retrieved 2026-09-17 · EN