What makes nurses working abroad different from an ordinary filing?
Nursing contracts abroad are usually genuine employment in the host country, which means the host taxes from the first day worked while the home country may still tax the whole year — and licensing and agency structures decide who the employer actually is. An ordinary preparer applies the general rule and stops there, which is how the relief in the specific provision goes unclaimed.
Can you work with my existing accountant?
That is how most of these engagements run. They keep the domestic file, we take the cross-border piece, and the boundary is agreed in writing so nothing is done twice or missed.
Which country taxes my salary if I work abroad all year?
The host country almost always taxes pay for work physically performed there, from the first day worked, because that is where the duties are carried out. Whether your home country also taxes it depends on residence: a resident is normally taxed on worldwide income for the whole year, whatever the host country has already taken. So the answer is frequently both, with relief on the home return removing the double charge. The exception is where you have genuinely ceased to be resident at home, in which case the home country taxes only home-source income and the overseas salary drops out of that return entirely.
Do I pay tax in both countries on the same nursing income?
You may be assessed in both, but you should not end up bearing tax twice on the same income. The mechanism is relief rather than exemption: the country taxing you as a resident gives credit for the tax the other country charged on that income, usually limited to its own tax on it. The effective burden therefore settles at the higher of the two, not the sum of them. Where the two countries have a treaty, an article may also allocate the taxing right outright for particular kinds of pay. What is never automatic is the relief itself, which has to be claimed on a return with evidence attached.
What about the part of the year before I left home?
That part of the year usually belongs to the home country, and it is the piece most often overlooked. If you left part-way through, you were resident for the earlier stretch, and salary, locum work and investment income from that stretch belong on a home return. Departure can also carry its own consequences for what you owned on the day you left, depending on the country. The better documented the departure date is, through the tenancy, the flight and the change in your employment status, the easier both halves of the year are to defend. Fix the date first, then split the year against it.
Does my home country tax the host pension scheme I joined?
A host country retirement or provident scheme is a common trap, because the host may allow or even require contributions while your home country does not recognise the scheme at all. That can mean the contribution is taxed at home in the year it is made, and the growth inside the scheme reported annually, even though nothing has been drawn from it. Some treaties contain an article that recognises the other state's schemes and brings the treatment into line; many do not. Tell us about a scheme before you join it, because the position is far easier to manage then than at retirement.
Do I owe social security in both countries as well?
Possibly, and it is a separate question from income tax with its own rules. Working in a host country normally brings you into its social security system, while the home system may keep charging you if you remain within its scope. Where the two countries have a social security agreement, it generally assigns you to one system and exempts you from the other, evidenced by a certificate obtained at or near the start of the posting. Without such an agreement you can genuinely be liable in both, and contributions are often not creditable against income tax. Deal with this when the placement begins.
My hospital withheld tax from day one — was that right?
Probably. Withholding on employment income normally begins with the first day of work in the host country and does not wait for any residence threshold to be crossed. What is worth checking is the rate applied: payroll systems often default to a non-resident or unregistered rate higher than your eventual liability, and the excess only comes back when the host return is filed. Check too whether the withholding was calculated on cash pay alone or included the accommodation and flights. Never treat the deduction on a payslip as your final host tax; the assessment is what counts.
Who qualifies for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion?
A US citizen or resident with a tax home outside the United States who meets one of two tests: bona fide residence in a foreign country for an uninterrupted period including a full tax year, or physical presence abroad for a qualifying number of days in a twelve-month window. The day count and the exclusion cap both come off Form 2555 for the year in question. Failing both tests does not end relief — the foreign tax credit is the alternative. See Form 2555.
When is Form 1116 not required?
Three situations. You elect the exception for a small amount of creditable foreign tax that arises from passive income and is reported to you on a payer statement such as a 1099 or K-1. You choose to deduct the foreign tax instead of crediting it. Or all the foreign income was excluded under the foreign earned income exclusion, in which case there is no credit to claim on it in the first place. The first option costs you the carryover. See Form 1116.
